The End Or The Beginning?
by artdam
Summary: PostHBP. AU. After killing Voldemort Harry is transported to another universe. He finds his family and friends in the world where he died at the age of one. I had a thought, I created new document and now you can read it. Review and tell me what you think
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I hope it is enough.

**The End Or The Beginning? **

_The one when everything ended and everything started._

Dumbledore was wrong, He was not required to die last.

The tall, black haired wizard was standing over a dead body of Tom Riddle. They were in the Death Chamber, deep under the ruins where the Ministry of Magic once stood.

The wizard was looking at the remains of his worst enemy, the creature that ruined his future and destroyed his life. They were connected in more ways then even Dumbledore had thought. For the wizard, Harry Potter, was the last Horcrux.

Twenty years had past since their first meeting. Harry didn't know anything about any magical proprieties of the number twenty. Riddle, however, had believed in the number seven. And seven it were since his rebirth. Seven long and tiresome years, full of pain and sorrow. Years filled with death and destruction.

_But no more death._

_No more but one._

Harry took his hand out of his cloak holding a small bag. With the wave of the other hand he enlarged it and one by one took out the items.

The other parts of Voldemort's soul. Harry couldn't risk to leave anything behind. He carefully stepped over Tom Riddle's body, nearing to the veil, that, despite the destruction around, still stood.

As always, he could hear the whispers, calling, smoothing, promising. Harry never wavered. He knew his responsibility, he knew the end.

One by one, he started throwing them through the veil. They had vanished, just like that, without any fight, any sound, like Sirius those many years ago.

_I'll be there soon._

After he throw the body of Nagini, they were only two in the dark chamber.

Without a pause, Harry levitated Riddle's body and pushed it through the veil as well. When the body passed the veil, he could feel some parts of Voldemort fighting inside of him, trying to take control, but he would manage, he was fighting him for to many years. They had battled on too many occasions to surrender now.

Some time after Dumbledore's death Voldemort had realized that ordering to kill him wasn't his smartest decision. The year that Dumbledore died, Harry Potter had already been called the Chosen One and once there was no Dumbledore to somehow control him and restrain from taking less drastic decisions, Harry Potter, in a span of two years, brought the war back to Voldemort, not only defending people against the Death Eaters but also attacking as often as he could manage. And unfortunately for Voldemort and to growing concerns and fears of his Death Eaters, Voldemort had to flee from the skirmishes with the young wizard every time for the last three years.

_But no more fight._

As attuned to magic as Harry became, he knew that he would have problems maintaining control over the part of Tom Riddle inside him for much longer. It felt stronger than he could remember and Harry was sure that somehow it was aware of the outside world.

Looking around for the last time, and thinking that he finally would meet with his lost friends and family, Harry Potter, the most powerful wizard on earth, stepped through the Veil of Death to meet his next great adventure.

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Today wasn't his best day.

First, he had lost ten gallons to Sirius over a stupid bet.

How could he know that that bloody keeper would save ever time. Who could have thought that that Weasley was so good. Okay, true be told, he knew that Ron was good, the boy had had great heart to the sport and with that new chaser, Cung, Cheng, Chang! Yes Chang, they had managed to score repeatedly and succeeded in keeping the other seeker distracted for long enough to win. Argh! He should have known.

And now they called him and his squad back to the ministry because of some disturbance in the dungeons of the Department of Mysteries. Couldn't the Unspeakables manage their own mess.

"Move your ass, Padfoot! We've been summoned." James Potter barked at his friend.

"Ohh, someone is grumpy. Did ickle Prongsie loose some money? Was it ten gallons maybe? Pay!" taunted Sirius Black.

"Later." James responded and vanished with a silent pop.

"Hey!" Sirius vanished after his friend a moment later.

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Lily watched with somewhat sad eyes as a young man, levitating some plants, was heading in their direction.

"Hi Mrs. Potter." The young man said and smiled at her.

"Hello Neville." Lily smiled at the young and handsome wizard.

"Mum, I planted some of these near the back of the garden, please don't water them, I will stop by to check on them, okay?"

"Sure honey. Would you like to stay for lunch?" Alice Longbottom asked.

"Sorry, I can't. I promised Hannah I meet her at lunch today. Bye mum. Bye Mrs. Potter."

And he vanished inside the house and after a moment they heard the sound of someone apparating out.

Lily sighed sadly.

"Neville is such a nice young man." She said to Alice.

"Yes he is." Alice looked at her friend. "I am sure Harry is in a happy place, watching over you."

"I don't know. Sometimes I just feel that he is struggling somewhere, fighting for his life."

They had this conversation many times. Harry Potter died twenty years ago, killed by Tom Riddle. He would be exactly Neville's age, only a day younger. They had so many plans for both of them. Unfortunately Harry Potter never befriended Neville Longbottom.

"Did Rose got her O.W.L's?" It was always a good subject to lighten the mood.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? She did yesterday." Lily replied, brought back to the reality.

She smiled at Alice knowingly but kept talking about her sixteen years old daughter.

"She's got eleven. And eight O's, can you believe it? We are so proud." Lily smiled remembering her child.

"James and I decided to take her on holidays abroad, but she chose to have new broom, can you imagine. I think I never saw James more proud." she laughed lightly. Her state of melancholia left for now.

"Broomstick over a holiday?" Alice snorted in surprise.

She knew Rose to be very curious and intelligent girl, always happy to learn. But on the other hand she wasn't James' daughter for nothing, playing chaser since her second year, she was a big Quidditch fan like her father and uncle were.

"You know her, she's…" Lily stopped when she felt her mirror vibrating. After taking it out she answered the call from her husband.

What she saw in the mirror frightened her, James' face was white, covered in dirt and some blood, he definitely had been fighting just a minute earlier.

"Lily, come to Hogwarts immediately, to the Hospital Wing." Someone said something to him and he looked over his shoulder for a moment.

"I'm alright." He said and looked behind him again. When he faced her he was even paler than before. "Take Rose as well, I think. Please hurry."

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AN:

I had this thought about older Harry meeting his parents and the world where… You'll have to read this to know more.

**Review** and tell me if you want me to continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This is the last disclaimer I write for this story. I do not own Harry Potter. Thank you.

My notes: You guys are Great! I mean, 35 reviews! In one day! WOW. Thank You!

Don't forget to **REVIEW** this one.

**The End Or The Beginning?**

The one in which we know nothing more.

_It hurt like hell. He didn't know why, He couldn't remember ever being in so much pain. It felt like some part of him had been ripped away, tearing him in half. _

_Hocruxes! Riddle!_

_Was he dead? Did Voldemort die with him or did he manage to escape? _

_Harry's mind couldn't comprehend any complex thought. _

_Then he somehow understand. _

_The pain continued because Voldemort's soul clutched to him, it clutched with every power it possessed. He had to push, he had to disconnect. _

_But how?_

_He couldn't move, he couldn't feel his body. How come he could even think? He shouldn't feel the pain. _

_And then all of a sudden everything went still. No pain, no Voldemort. Nothing._

_Harry was confused. Should he even feel that way? Was that the afterlife? If that was, than he decided he didn't like it. _

_And again, as suddenly as before, he felt like he had been pulled somewhere, moving faster and faster…_

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"Ouch." the body fell to the floor in a heap.

"That was bloody unpleasant." He murmured.

Slowly Harry untangled himself from his robes. His whole body aching terribly. Moving to his knees, his hands on the floor, he shook his head to clear it a little.

It felt like he was in some kind of a room. Well, he certainly was kneeling on the stone floor. Harry could feel the veil behind him. The magic that it emanated.

He rubbed his face with one hand trying to rid himself of the dizziness and froze when he touched his forehead.

He couldn't feel his scar. It should be there, it was always there, a bruise on his forehead. He absentmindedly conjured a mirror to try and see his face and then realized that the room was lit with some torches, Harry froze instinctively.

He saw a silver light out of the corner of his eye, and he suddenly became aware that he wasn't alone in this place.

His body stiffened, he vanished the mirror with a thought and looked up to see six wands pointed at him. A little silver sparrow was leaving the room behind the owners of the wands.

Mechanically he rolled to the side, stopped on one knee, rose his hand and erected a shield around himself. With his other hand he automatically had sent a wave of magic to measure his opponents power and prepare to restrain the strongest first.

Unfortunately for him, as well as, for the rest in the room, one of them decided that his action was hostile and shot the first offensive spell of the day in the Chamber of Whispers.

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Darren Stadelton was terrified. He was an Unspeakable for five years, but he was a researcher not a fighter. And that monster had just sent his two co-workers crashing into the wall with the wave of his hand. And what was that thing shining around him.

There were four of them left in the room. He hoped that the Aurors would arrive soon, or maybe someone would call Dumbledore or Flamel.

This man just attacked them without a reason!

They were trying to find out who he was. But before they could ask anything some force pushed them back.

In his dictionary that was an attack!

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"EXPELLIARMUS" Three of the four still standing attackers shouted in unison.

Harry dropped the shield that was holding him in place, rolled backwards and conjured a block of stone to intercept the spells.

They hit its target shattering it to pieces and creating a cloud of dust.

At the same time, using his momentum, Harry backed some more and hid himself behind the veil.

He disillusioned himself with an intent of getting out of there as fast as he could.

But as always luck left him as soon as he needed it most. He heard some commotion from a distance. That meant that more of them were coming.

And a moment later a group of people stormed through the entrance. Harry could hear bits of what they were saying.

"How many…"

"…to the medi-witch … two more squads…"

"What are you babbling boy…" That voice was vaguely familiar.

_Where the hell am I? _

"Who is he? Did anyone tried to interrogate…"

_They don't act like the Death Eaters. Especially the newcomers. More like… Aurors?_

Harry decided that that was enough of assessing the situation and time to act. He pushed from his hiding place only to find himself stirring the dust that didn't have the time to settle, unfortunately his attackers noticed it to.

"Paint, to the left of the veil." The familiar voice shouted. "He's disillusioned."

He didn't reacted in time. Some of their spells hit him in the chest leaving the rainbow of colors on his robes.

_Just great, Aberfoth's battle robes, I just hope it could be cleaned. _

He conjured some more blocks of stone and sent them at his attackers. He didn't want to hurt anyone, after all they didn't use Unforgivables yet, and recently the Death Eaters had fought only with those. But he wouldn't stay and wait for them to hit him with something.

He started conjuring more and more stones and sending them at those people aiming carefully below their neckline.

He could hear others coming.

His stones wouldn't stop them but they would certainly distract them and Harry could conjure stone obstacles in his sleep and even shoot few spells with his other hand at the same time.

The new ones arrived only a minute later but he already was halfway through the chamber, his stones intercepting every spell shot at him.

"Accio Boots." He murmured the spell at the newcomers. Simple and effective. Few of the newly arrived lost their balance and his stones hit its targets creating more time for him, in the chaos, to sneak out.

Then he felt His magic, as great as it always was, but not only his.

Harry looked up and in the entrance they stood, two wizards, one he saw only on the Wizard Card, and second, the ghost from his past.

Harry stumbled shocked, his stones momentarily forgotten, he looked to the right of those visions and he saw someone looking exactly like him picking himself from the dirty floor but that somehow didn't hit him the way that the presence of the person helping his other self from the ground.

There next to the other Harry Potter stood Sirius Black.

They looked at each other, maintaining the eye contact for a second before a barrage of spells hit Harry and he knew no more.

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"Merlin! James did you… did you… its you!" Sirius blurred out, his voice echoing in the silent chamber.

"Alastor, Frank could you take this person to Hogwarts. Kingsley go and warn Poppy and Mrs. Weasley." Albus Dumbledore said taking control of the situation.

"What do you think Nicholas, I didn't see him using wand?" He asked his friend and old mentor quietly.

"Mr. Shacklebolt, would you mind going to Professor Flitwick and asking him for 'Zenobia cuffs'. Tell him that there is a visitor who will need them." Nicholas Flamel asked the Auror.

"Black move your ass over here. Diggory you as well." Alastor Moody barked. "Shacklebolt you heard the man!"

They started to levitate Harry's unconscious body from the room.

"Potter what about you?" He asked.

"I'm alright."

Dumbledore walked to one of the Unspeakables.

"Mister Stadelton I understand that you were here from the beginning?" Albus asked his former student.

The man nodded, his eyes wide with shock.

"Would you agree to share your memories with us in a pensive."

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AN:

Okay next chapter posted.

I hope you like it. Leave a **Review** and tell me what you think.

I know that now, that you saw the first one, you all have your expectations and ideas about what should happen next and you may not like what I write. If so, please tell me as well.

'Zenobia cuffs' – it is only a name that I needed – you can all find about the real thing in the net (in Wikipedia for example) – What do you think they are for?

The chapters will be short but if you will **Review** the way you did I'm sure I will post the next one soon.

Thanks again.

Oh and for all of you who don't know or don't remember about book 6, try hp-lexicon with org– just click on the cover of HBP, all the facts are there.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for Reviewing. It is a great encouragement, keep doing it.

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one in which they meet._

They were walking slowly through the corridor leading to the infirmary. Lily, Rose and James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel. They had just left the Headmaster's office where they had watched the memories of those present in the Department of Mysteries.

After seeing exactly what had happened they had more questions than answers, though, they determined two things and hoped that they guessed few more.

One, this man was definitely not James Potter or any of his known relatives despite his evident resemblance. They estimated that he was slightly taller than James and his hairs were a little longer therefore heavier framing his face and keeping it partly hidden. He was build very similar to the Potter patriarch even if visibly thinner. The Potters, however, admitted that he could be a distant relative as of a long forgotten part of the family, from outside the British Isles.

And two, he could definitely possess a threat to his enemies. He commanded wandless magic like every other wizard, magic with use of focus, even a great deal better from what they had witnessed. He was wearing a battle robes of old style, and dragonhide boots. The stranger moved with trained grace and confidence, always in control of the situation. Rose Potter pointed out that he preferred using transfiguration in battle which was the field of expertise of her dad as well as one of Rose's best subject, other common trait of the Potters. The others did notice that he had used the simplest but most effective means in the fight. They guessed that he could be a hit wizard. The fact that he appeared in the midst of the Department of Mysteries suggested that he could be one of the Unspeakables as well, for no one could know for sure who was one of them. But that lead wasn't confirmed yet.

One thing, however, was promising, despite the previous statements of the witnesses, the stranger didn't attack first. His first battle spell was a shield and a wave of pure magic sent around the room. It didn't harm anyone. Albus didn't know the spell but thankfully Nicholas remembered seeing it performed once before. In short it was used only as another sense to 'see' the surrounding area.

There was more. They could clearly see that while trying to leave the chamber, the stranger had been directing his stones in a way to prevent them from killing anyone. And they saw that he was stopped only because he was disturbed by the presence of Albus and Nicholas.

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Aurors stood on guard in the entrance to the infirmary.

_Alastor probably had more than enough inside,_ mussed Albus. On the other hand he was wondering if Poppy or Katie had chased him and his men away or if he had managed to convince one of the nurses to allow them to stay inside.

"Welcome gentlemen. Did our visitor wake up?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly.

"He is ready to wake up, professor, but Mr. Moody didn't give the permission to wake him." One of them replied.

"Well then, lets see him, shall we?" Albus asked and motioned for the group to fallow him inside.

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The room was warmly lit. On both sides, lined under the walls were two rows of beds with white, clean sheets. Moody's Aurors were scattered around the room. Moody himself was talking to a tall, thin woman in a white apron. They were in a middle of animated discussion when the group interrupted them.

"Headmaster!" Poppy Pomfrey almost shouted in relief. "Tell this man to take his Aurors from my ward immediately. They don't let us work with the patient." To her if someone was injured, that someone was her charge.

"Hello Poppy." Dumbledore said. "We will wake him in a minute."

She huffed at Alastor Moody exchanged greetings with the rest and went back to her patient.

"Alastor did you..."

Lily Potter didn't listen to their conversation, her eyes followed the nurse. On the bed in the far corner laid the person they came to see. She gasped when she saw him. She didn't hear the gasps of the other females that looked in the same direction as she.

The pensives always too strongly reminded her of a muggle movie therefore, even when she saw him there, some part of her somehow didn't believe what she saw. But there he was laying on the bed, still in the battle uniform, almost exact copy of her husband.

Unaware that others followed her she moved closer to the stranger. He was different from her husband but strangely reminded her somewhat of Rose. Now they could see that he definitely was younger than James, he looked like he was in his mid twenties maybe twenty six, seven. He was very handsome, but her James was as well so she wouldn't imagine it differently. And she felt drawn to him, not in a sexual way, but drawn like to someone who represent safety or… or home. She felt similar only with her closest friends.

Yet even unconscious his expression was guarded, his muscles tensed. He looked ready to strike.

"No he is not under the Polyjuice Potion." Katie Weasley said. Her voice brought Lily back to the present.

"As far as we know he doesn't have any glamour on him as well."

Lily knew her through Molly Weasley, the young witch was married to Fred, one of the famous Weasley twins. She was an apprentice under Poppy for two or three years by then. Lily knew her to be a very bright and strong willed, she must had also very good sense of humor to keep up with the twins.

"Why haven't you took his robes off?" Rose asked curious.

"Well, we tried" she looked at Mrs. Pomfrey "but they must have been charmed to be taken off only with his concur." She gestured at Moody "At least it's what he said."

Moody grunted in confirmation. "Great battle robes, they don't do ones like that anymore."

They were standing around the bed.

"Did you manage to find a wand on him?" Remus asked.

"We couldn't even bloody check his pockets, not mentioning lifting his sleeves to look for a holster."

"What are these bracelets?" Rose Potter pointed at two golden bracelets, engraved with some little animals, around the man's wrists.

"That, Miss Potter, would prevent this man from using magic." Albus Dumbledore answered his student.

No one noticed thoughtful expression on Nicholas Flamel's face.

"I think it is time to wake our visitor up. Lets back up a little and create some space. We don't want to startle him."

They moved backwards leaving only Poppy Pomfrey and Katie Weasley near the bed. Alastor Moody complained that it was an unnecessary risk but ordered his Aurors to do the same.

"Poppy would you?" Albus asked pleasantly, however, his hand stayed on his wand.

"Enervate."

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Harry grudgingly opened his eyes. His head ached in the same way when he had overdosed with firewhisky during Ron's bachelor party. He sighed inwardly, they were married only for two months, both died in an ambush, Bill and Fleur as well.

_Oh no, hospital wing, again. What did I do this time?_

Poppy Pomfrey was leaning over him looking him in the eyes. Her expression disturbed him somehow, she was frowning at him but without the normal warmness behind her eyes.

"What is it Poppy? What happened?" He croaked.

Her frown deepened, this time clearly in confusion. She glanced up over him, then answered hesitantly.

"You were stunned with rather strong stunners, Mr. …?"

_What stunners? What does she mean 'Mr.'? _

He followed her confused expression and noticed that they weren't alone in the room.

Everything came back to him. He was looking at ghosts from his past. Some of them he didn't know and wondered briefly if they were people who died by his hand.

Most were holding wands in their hands. Instincts took over, with uncanny agility and speed Harry rolled off, landing behind the bed, backed few steps and crouched in the position to erect a shield and cast a wave of magic.

Nothing happened.

He could definitely feel his magic stir, but why the spell didn't work. Then he noticed some bracelets attached to his wrists.

"Not again." He groaned quietly.

Before anyone could react Harry grabbed one of the women in the nurse apron, pulled her to him, his arm around her throat.

Unfortunately she didn't have a wand.

"She dies if I see any magical flows other than Hogwarts." He threaten dangerously.

"Who the hell are you?" He said at the person looking like Dumbledore. His voice was low and demanding.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. We don't want to cause you any harm?"

"Then why the Hell Am I wearing 'Zenobia's cuffs'?" He hissed.

Dumbledore blanched a little, a voice from his right answered Harry.

"We didn't want you to attack us." Said a similarly tall person next to 'Dumbledore'.

"And you are?" Harry asked.

_I am mental, I'm talking to dead people._

"I am Nicholas Flamel, I teach History of Magic here at Hogwarts. How should we call you?"

"Harry." Harry said absently. Momentarily lost in thought he didn't hear the gasp of Lily Potter and white faces of her and her husband.

"Harry." Said the Flamel person, "could you release Mrs. Weasley? I think she is scared enough, don't you. I promise that we will not attack."

Harry looked behind himself confused. He didn't see Molly here. There were nobody behind, he looked at Mr. Flamel. The wizard was looking at the medi-witch Harry was holding.

"Mrs. Weas…" Her frightened eyes looked at him. "Katie?" Harry whispered and let her go, totally confused and probably scared more than they were. For all he knew he should be dead.

Katie scurried to Poppy Pomfrey and they backed behind the wizards.

"Thank you Harry. Will you agree to talk before we take the cuffs off?" Mr. Flamel asked.

"No need." Harry smirked. He had been dealing with those cuffs earlier.

"I will take them off." He smiled dangerously and the cuffs suddenly fell to the floor with a loud clunk in the silent room.

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AN:

And the next one is done.

Thank you very, very much for your **REVIEWs**. It is great to know that you like it. Please keep reviewing.

I have to tell you, though, I have no idea what will happen next in this story. Even if I have a plan before I start writing, it just comes differently when I finish.

Does anyone of you know why not always the chapters are listed in the new stories. I mean with the first chapter it was listed almost at the top of the page but the second one is hard to find.

I would post individual responses but I have read somewhere that it is not allowed. Is it true?


	4. Chapter 4

**Read and REVIEW!**

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one where he tells._

No one moved. The curtains by one of the opened windows fluttered loudly when the cold, evening breeze found its way inside. The tension in the room was clearly visible. They were waiting, everything was still.

Unfortunately that lasted only to the point when the first spell had been shot.

The Auror, who had decided that if someone was armed, someone should be subdued, made similar mistake to the Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. He had fallen unconscious, in a heap, to the floor when the nightstand, that just a minute ago stood peacefully beside one of the beds, hit him in the head. Five more Aurors who chose to help their friend, joined him on the floor in mere seconds.

"ENOUGH!" Angry voice boomed. "Alastor Moody! Take the Aurors and leave. Now!"

Alastor Moody with the help from his co-workers had levitated the unconscious Aurors to the empty beds that were still standing.

Poppy and Katie immediately rushed to look over new patients.

"Don't wake them yet Poppy." Dumbledore said.

Harry looked up from his position behind one of the fallen beds.

_Alastor … Mad-Eye? But he has two…_

Harry didn't finish that thought because the voice said, this time more calmly.

"I am very sorry, err… Harry, I apologize for their reaction." Nicholas Flamel said and with a calculating look he added.

"Thank you for not fighting us."

He gestured his hand to stop whatever Sirius and James wanted to say.

"Again, I am sorry for the cuffs."

Harry nodded his acceptance. He stood up and straighten his robes. With the wave of his hand he had sent them back to Dumbledore who caught them easily and hid inside his robes. With another wave Harry silently started to repair the damage around himself. Flamel and Dumbledore did the same in their part of the infirmary.

The others began moving from their hiding spots when the beds and the rest of the furniture had been sent to their respective places.

"I think it would be best that we take our conversation to my office. Would you follow me please." And with that Dumbledore turned and ushered the group out. He was acting like nothing had happened and somehow admitted Harry the status of a guest and not an enemy.

Harry, for the first time noticed that the people that resembled his parents were older then his parents in the photos. Remus and the man, that must had been Sirius, looked different as well.

_If this is afterlife, shouldn't they all know me?_

What confused him more and scared him a little, was the person they were trying to shield. The girl was definitely related to them, in his opinion their daughter with her dark, red hair.

_But how could that be?_

No one ever told him that he had a sister and she looked way to young to be only a year younger than he.

On his way out he stepped over to the nurses. Katie flinched when she saw him coming closer and Poppy tightened her grip on the wand she was holding. He sighed inwardly.

"I am sorry I threaten you Miss?"

"Mrs. Weasley." She said, determined not to cover under his intense gaze.

"Right. I am really sorry." He said that sincerely but without any plea for forgiveness in his voice.

Katie nodded hesitantly not sure if she accepted his apology.

He nodded to Poppy once and left after the others.

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Rose Potter was very confused.

She had never saw her parents look like that. Sure, in the times they lived, she often saw her mum worrying over dad or uncles Sirius and Remus, but her dad always managed to lift her spirit up. Today however, he, Moony and mum looked shaken to the bone. They were white like sheets, getting ashen when he said his name was Harry. Her mum had hold her hand so hard that she thought that one more squeeze and it would break.

Rose glanced over her shoulder to see the man walking behind them. He was walking confidently in an elegant, almost catlike way. His battle robes made him look very dangerous. His face was almost blank, only a shadow of emotions crossed it every now and then. She saw that from time to time, he glanced out of the window to the evening sky or crocked an eyebrow at one or another painting. He definitely looked like someone who had been at Hogwarts before, he seemed to know the place, never wavered when some suit of armor created a rocket as they were passing it or didn't give any reaction when the staircases began to move.

She new that everyone in they small procession kept glancing at him as well, maybe with exception of Professors Dumbledore and Flamel.

But he looked like he was used to the stares.

She was astounded when she had seen him in the pensive, he surely was very powerful. She never saw her dad or Padfoot duel like him when they were sometimes training in the backyard. And she had also noticed the look on Professor Dumbledore's face when that bracelets, _that Zanobia cuffs was it_, fell to the floor. If she didn't know better, that might be the way he could look when he was afraid.

Thankfully Professor Flamel stopped everyone before the situation could get out of hand.

_Of course if you think that six unconscious Aurors in few seconds wasn't out of hand._

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"Please take your seats." Dumbledore had conjured nine comfy looking chairs. He was nice enough, or mean enough to arrange them in a semicircle in front of his desk, that meant that Harry's position would be on the equal with the others.

In the end Harry sat between Nicholas Flamel and the husband of the other couple. The man looked vaguely familiar to Harry but he couldn't put name to the face. His wife was even more familiar, her round face stirred some of his memories.

The office was almost identical to the one he remembered, before McGonnagal took the position of the Headmistress. Many instruments were on the desk almost like when he was there the last time with his Headmaster. Harry looked around longingly. This place always made him safe and secure, even though, many of his saddest memories were connected to it. This room was full of warmth. Harry had spotted the cupboard where his Dumbledore had kept his pensive, as well as, the place where he saw Fawekes had his burning day. The portraits, as always, were pretending they were sleeping. Harry noticed that like in his world the majority of the other people didn't know about usefulness of those spies, they never spared them the second glance. Only this Sirius person scowled at the portrait of Phineas. This brought Harry from his mussing.

_What the hell is going on?_

This people, they looked so much like the people he knew and the people he hoped to meet all his life.

_But how could that be possible?_

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She was going mad. She couldn't stop glancing at him all the way up to Albus' office. She thought they should went to her office instead, it was much closer. He looked so much like James but his eyes, they were the eyes she saw in the mirror everyday. Rose had also had green eyes but never as crystal emeralds like she … and now this man. He looked older but maybe … just maybe. What if he was… . But they saw him dead, they buried him so many years ago.

She saw James, he was getting angry, his jaw tightened with that hard stare of his usually reserved for work. He was intensely looking at Albus' desk.

_Oh, God please, please not let it be some sick joke. Let it be the miracle she had prayed all those years. _

"Mum?"

Lily was startled by Rose. Looking down at her daughter's confused and worried face she realized that she had tears on her cheeks. She swept them with her hand and forced a smile on her face.

"I'm fine, honey. I'm just…, I'm fine." She didn't know how she was, at least not yet.

When everyone settled down, Dumbledore smiled at them, his eyes twinkling warmly.

"Anyone would like tea maybe?" When he waved his hand a tea and ten cups appeared on his desk. Lily never saw him do that without the wand before.

He addressed… _Harry_… she tested the name silently when Albus had used it.

"Harry, I think it would be best if you told us where you came from and what were you doing in the Department of Mysteries and the Chamber of Whispers of all places." His voice was smooth and warm but firm underneath, indicating that he wanted an answer. Lily had heard him speak like that with the Board of Governors many times. Usually, no one dared to disobey that tone.

"Certainly." _Harry_ said. He had a nice, low but somewhat disturbingly familiar voice. "I will gladly answer your questions but please could you introduce the rest?"

She thought that his eyes lingered little longer on Sirius for some reason.

"Of course." She could have swear that Albus frowned in annoyance. That mysterious Harry didn't cover before Albus, she thought with a strange proud feeling.

"As you remember I am Albus Dumbledore, this is Nicholas Flamel." He gestured to the History professor.

"Next to you is Mr. Frank Longbottom and his wife Alice. Further down is Remus Lupin. And next to him is Lily Potter, her daughter Rose and husband James. And the last person is Sirius Black."

Lily saw the shadows of a conflicting emotions crossed _Harry's_ face with each name. He could conceal them quite well, but not well enough to keep his face completely blank.

When his eyes fell on Sirius he had an expectant expression, as if waiting for something.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sirius fidgeted under the man's intensive gaze.

Albus missed it or just ignored it because he continued.

"Mrs. And Mr. Longbottom as well as Mr. Potter and Mr. Black are Aurors. I think that you saw Mr. Black and Mr. Potter at the Ministry. Mrs. Potter is a teacher here at Hogwarts, and Mr. Lupin works for the Ministry."

When he had finished he waited silently, giving the man some time and looking at him expectantly.

After what seemed like an hour the man said with a slight shrug.

"It looks like I fell through the Veil of Death. I have no idea why I am here, all I know, most of you should be dead or even shouldn't exist." He said looking curiously at Rose. "And…" he hesitated for the first time "and my name is Harry Potter."

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AN:

Each chapter I write, I have to wonder how wonderful you are. THANK YOU FOT YOUR **REVIEWs**. This is great. Thanks for being so supportive.

I know that nothing happened here, maybe it will take more time before next update but things will progress from there.

This I know, There will be no Voldemort in this story, But there will be Tom Riddle. I also know who is the Minister of Magic but you'll have to read to find out. Oh! And Harry will have a girlfriend.

Thanks for answering my questions, I will post some personal responses, probably during the weekend.

Chapter 1 -

Danuschka; Althea; BlueWateratSunrise; FirstDaysOfSummer; Judith; Star; -Chris Halliwell; Phoenix Bakura; Viira; Emmelz; Goku-lover21; Mog-everything; zan189; Shadowed Rains; Kyra; Nljfs; Moewe; Frank; Padfoot Reincarnated; Whooserfan; Ace Ryn Knight; Pixy; Jenniyah; W'rkncacnter; Cataclysmic; KTskywalker; Kitkat88; Snow Angel; Inu-Angel Z; Talia Dandy; AznBabe09; Megan M.; Maygie07; hpsleuth11; Never Odd Or eveN; Jinxeh;

THANKS!

Chapter 2 -

Maria Murni; japanese-jew; LilPKLoser; zan189; viira; Mog-Everything; Kyra; snickers; sphinx12; Jinxeh; Sybyll; Bluie Twilight Star; cj-cold; Althea; emmelz; pixy; KTskywalker;

PadfootObsessed329; CrimsonReality; Shadowed Rains; YinMiltato; Inu-Angel Z;

THANKS AGAIN!

Chapter 3 -

shawn-small58; viira; snickers; silvermist 91; Marguerida; Dark Lord of abyss; Paili-chan; Mog-everything; Bloodless Ace; Goku-lover21; Kyra; pinkharry; korrd; Shadowed Rains; Ava; sphinx12; japanese-jew; gohan8k; Shelly; Inu-Angel Z; PadfootObsessed329; Bluie Twilight Star; zan189; Althea; gallandro-83; Never Odd Or eveN; Sybyll; Padfoot Reincarnated; Szihuoko; FirstDaysofSummer; Pixy; ulkser; CrimsonReality; Chrystelia;

THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I hope I didn't leave anyone, if I so please **REVIEW** again and I will surely thank you. 

Thanks guys I really am thankful for your **Reviews**, they are great.

**Keep Reviewing**.

Now, some **SPOILERS** for those who didn't read Harry Potter and the Discovery of the Path and don't want to know what's going on there – **Don't look**!

I have some problems waking Harry up. I mean Dumbledore tried, Poppy tried and even Snape agreed to brew some potions, I just don't know what to do. I even let Hagrid have a go and nothing. Meanwhile there are things happening in the Wizarding World and I remember to write about them. So, as soon as Harry wakes you will se the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is rewritten version of Chapter five. **

**Review and tell me if you think it is better or not. Also, if you didn't read the last version, just tell me what you think.**

**The End Or The Beginning? **

_The one where the flames are._

For a moment the only sound in the office was coming from an old fireplace and a few puffing instruments on the headmaster's desk. Then Lilly's muffled sob, broke the spell. Her hands were shaking terribly, eyes wide and watery. She was starring at Harry, her hopes and fears confirmed.

"How dare you!" She flinched when James roared at Harry.

His state of confused shock quickly changed to anger. He leaped to his feet, ready to hex this man, when a hand grabbed his shoulder. With a pleading eyes Lily throw herself at her husband.

"James no, don't… don't do anything, James please." She sobbed into his chest.

He was still glaring at that imposter with a silent threat, but started comforting his wife, quickly joined by his daughter.

Rose was more confused than anything else. Yet the instincts took over and she went to her distressed mother.

The Longbottoms were dumbfounded as well, Alice had spent many hours with Lily, consoling her over the years. If that was some kind of a sick joke, she would strangle the person responsible. _But that man's eyes, Lily's eyes. She had never saw anyone else with the eyes like this, ever._

Frank was shocked as well, but his perspective was more of an outsider. He thought of himself as a man of reason, if reason could guide one around magic, and in his eyes this man had earned some credit. Frank was no fool, he saw him duel, or battle was the better term, and he recognized that the man restrained himself from hurting them. He knew Albus saw that too. What he said was so unbelievable that it only could be true. _But the consequences..._

Remus sat in his chair, his mouth slightly ajar. He was looking between Lily, Rose and James and this man, this Harry Potter. He had the feeling that he should back up James in his reaction, but he could smell similar traits in their scent. Under the smell of blood, dust and dirt there was a scent very much like Rose's, if less pronounced. He had smelled it before but passed it as a distant relative, maybe Potter's scent, but he realized it was too similar.

What was more, he had read about the Veil of the Whispers and many theories concerning it. _Could it be possible this man was no imposter?_ He tried to look at Sirius and signal him to feel the scent by touching his nose lightly, but Sirius sat there with his mouth hanging wide open and a look of total shock on his face.

"I guess no one had fallen from the veil before, eh?" It didn't came as lightly as he hoped. Harry said it, still looking intensely at Sirius. He sighed after a moment and looked at Dumbledore but then settled on Flamel.

"I don't remember that happening." Nicholas Flamel answered him quietly. "I never thought it possible. This particular theory never applied to me."

There was a silent pause between the three man.

"Indeed, we always believed it to be the passage to the realm of death." Added Dumbledore mussed.

"As unthinkable as it seems," he continued. "You have managed to cross the barrier between worlds, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore's choosing to call Harry by his family name caught the attention of others.

Lily had calmed, by that time and when she heard Albus calling Harry – _Mr. Potter_ – she untangled herself from her husband's embrace and took a hesitant step towards Harry.

James was looking between his wife and Dumbledore, flood of emotions crossing his face. Long time ago, he had buried his guilt and grief over what had happened to his son. And now this man, he was supposed to be his son. _Is it what Harry would look like? This meant, this could... His son_.

Lily was moving closer to Harry, at first unsure, but as he got up when he saw her nearing, last two steps she rushed to him and embracing him with all her might. She started whispering all the words she wanted to tell, but never before had the chance.

For his part Harry was standing stiffly, not knowing what to do. He was no good in dealing with crying women, he looked up hoping to find some help, but found only the looks of confusion, wonder and shock. After a moment he put his arms around her. By then he wasn't really listening to her words but rather to the voice that usually was associated with the worst memories he had.

_No, not Harry, take me, take me instead… – Oh, Harry, my Harry, it is really you…_

Harry didn't know much at that moment, but he was sure that this particular scene from his past wouldn't be played in his head during his next encounter with the Dementors. _Was it true, could it be? _

James looked at his wife and prayed silently that this was true, he didn't know what would happened if it was a lie. He slumped heavily on a chair, Rose sat on the chair where Lily was sitting earlier. James smiled at his daughter and took her hand. He looked at Remus who nodded to him. That was very much needed approval. Remus gestured at Sirius, and James looked to his right to find his best friend still looking shocked. Sirius looked slowly at his friend, his mouth working silently but no words coming out of it, then back at Lily and Harry still holding each other.

After a minute he smiled broadly and said.

"Does it mean that I'm going to be a godfather again? Damn, James, Lily he is awfully thin, why weren't you feeding him properly?"

In that exact moment flames in headmaster's fireplace turned green and a head of this world's Alastor Moody appeared.

"Albus, they have attacked again. They are at Mockridge's place now, as far as we know, forty of them. Riddle is there as well." He said.

"We will be at the Ministry in a minute. Ready the men." Albus Dumbledore answered.

"We have to go." He said to the group. Then he looked at Lily, still standing with Harry.

"Mr. Potter I would appreciate if you wait here for us."

"Tom Riddle, you mean Voldemort?" Harry's head snapped in the direction of the Headmaster, his voice cold as ice.

"Yes, I believe he tried to call himself that, once." Dumbledore said securitizing younger man.

"Do you know about him?" Nicholas Flamel asked.

Harry looked at the ancient man and nodded slowly, wondering for the first time if his Voldemort died or if he managed to come with him.

"Not now," Frank Longbottom said, "we have to go."

James looked at his wife "Maybe you should stay…?"

"James." She said in a warning.

"Always the same." Sirius shook his head and moved to the fireplace. He stopped in front of Harry, looking him in the eyes. "Sirius Black, the Godfather." He puffed proudly sticking his hand.

Harry's lips twitched a little. "Harry Potter."

Sirius nodded with his own smile. "You, Me, Firewhisky. Tomorrow." He clapped Harry on the back and flooed away.

"Rose do you want to go home? It's getting late." Lily asked her daughter.

"I think I would like to stay and wait here mum."

Lily smiled but then glanced at her husband and back at Rose. "Sure, dear."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Harry decided that he should at least offer his help.

"Thank you Mr. Potter. We will deal with the situation." Albus smiled kindly at him. "When we are back, we will discuss the arrangements for your stay."

One by one they disappeared in the green flames. Leaving him and Rose in the office.

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The room was warmly lit. Headmaster's office was always very inviting, not that she had been there often. Just a few times, with her parents or delivering some notes from the teachers. But to Rose that huge, beautiful desk with all those instruments making little wisps of smoke, many portraits of old headmasters and headmistress on the walls, old books in the shelves, it was a perfect place where one could work comfortably or relax sitting by the fireplace, reading a book. From what her mum had always said, when she first came to Hogwarts, into her impression of a wizard, as from a point of view of a muggleborn, Dumbledore fitted ideally. When Rose was young, Mum had read to her many muggle stories and wizards there were always tall, old men, with long white beards and eyes full of wisdom, just like Albus Dumbledore. And his office completed the image.

After some time Rose was still sitting on one of the chairs, hesitant what to do next. She had asked to stay because of him of course, but when he had stood up without a word and went to the window, she didn't know how to react. Her mum was grateful, she was sure of that. She would probably stay herself but for some unknown, to Rose, reason, if there was an attack, she had always wanted to go with her dad.

Rose had so many questions. She wanted to know where did he come from? Or what was that Veil thing? Or if he was going to stay? And was he really her brother? But the silence stretched itself longer and longer. She didn't knew if he really remembered that she was there. He was standing by the window, looking at the forbidden forest. She knew that he was lost in his own thoughts. _How strange could it bee for him?_ Rose didn't know if she should interrupt but she was itching to have some answers. Just when she was gathering her courage to break the silence he turned to her.

"Are you hungry?"

"Huh?" That was not what she had expected.

"We could go to the kitchen and grab something to eat."

"What?"

"Well, I didn't eat since… err, lets just say since yesterday and I am sure that you missed dinner." He had a nice, familiar voice, not dad's, but very familiar.

"I…," she didn't eat anything since lunch and maybe it will be easier to talk with a full stomach. "What if they come back and we are not here?"

"We could just leave and let them think that I kidnapped you or You could leave a note to your parents, explaining that we got hungry." He smiled. _He has mum's smile. _She had noticed surprised. It looked so strange on her dad's face.

"Okay." _Why not?_ She had scribed a quick note to her parents and left it on the desk. Harry walked to it and waved his hand over a note.

"What did you do?" She asked curious at wandless' display of magic.

"Oh, I just charmed it so they will notice the note as soon as they come back."

They left the office and walked, side by side, through the corridors. Again, she had noticed that he seemed to know the castle pretty well.

"Have you been here before?"

He looked at her blankly for a moment.

"What do you…, ohh…," he smiled a little "well, I have been in Hogwarts, my Hogwarts anyway."

"Does it look the same?"

"Pretty much." He nodded.

They were nearing the second floor staircase by then.

"Did you see some differences?"

"I saw that the portrait of Fat Lady is hanging in the corridor leading to the Hospital Wing."

"Fat Lady?" She didn't know anything about some Fat Lady.

"Where I come from she was guarding the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower."

"Are you a Gryffindor?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course I am" He replied proudly, taking turn to another staircase.

"Me too. Mum and Dad were in a Gryffindor house as well." She said happily.

"I know, my pa…, well…, I know."

They fell silent again. When they were nearing the corridor where the painting guarding the entrance to the kitchen was, he asked.

"Does these attacks happen often?"

Rose didn't want to talk about that. Her Dad, as an Auror, always was in the middle of those battles and mum usually went with the Order members as well, and uncle Remus and uncle Sirius, they were always there. She hoped, that this time also, they would come back unharmed.

He must have notice the change in her mood because he said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"No, it's nothing. I'm just… you know, worried."

He nodded "Yeah…"

"Well, I think they happen once, maybe twice a month. As far as I know, it has always been like that."

"I'm sorry." He didn't ask about that again.

They were drinking Butterbeer, sitting side by side, on a long bench in front of the burning fireplace. Their backs against the exact replica of the Great Hall's table. The meal was delicious, the elves did their best, no surprise there, and they had a pleasant conversation so far.

"I never knew that you could ask the elves for Butterbeer."

He laughed at her wonder.

"I never knew since after Hogwarts. I was once sitting with Filius, complaining that I didn't want to go to Hogsmade but wanted a Butterbeer non the less. He had just laughed at me and called for an elf." He looked at her with an raised eyebrow. "House elves are bonded to Hogwarts. They have to do what the occupants of the castle tell them to do. But it is good to be on a good terms with them. They are more helpful then you can think. You should remember that." He finished and took another sip of his Butterbeer.

She nodded. Rose had noticed that he was very polite with the elves. She had never given any thought about them. They didn't have a house elf at home and she had never had any occasion to talk to one of those little creatures for more then to ask for something. She only knew that they always provided food if someone stumbled into the kitchen.

"So, you're sixteen? Did you have your OWL's this year?"

"Yeah. I've got eleven." Rose smiled proudly.

"Congratulations, I had a friend who got eleven OWL's, brilliant student." He mussed, sadly looking at the cracking fireplace. "Very good friend."

They had talked about Quidditch, about her friends, all the mundane topics. He rarely said anything about his world and Rose was dying to ask her questions. She decided that perhaps she could do it now.

"Err…, can you tell me about that veil thing you were talking with professors? I understand that it is some kind of a passageway between worlds. And that professor Dumbledore and professor Fleamel didn't know that that was possible. And that you have crossed it somehow."

She saw that he tensed a bit, not that he had looked not ready to any attack earlier. In the way he was holding himself he reminded her of professor Dumbledore, with that aura of knowing something no one else did, but more of Mr. Shacklebolt, with this casual alertness, totally relaxed but always ready to attack. She was sure that in case of any attack he would be battling before she had a time to put the butterbeer down.

He was silent for a long moment and she was starting to wonder if he would answer her.

"The veil, well…, no one is exactly sure what it is. At least from where I come from. It was believed to be a doorway to the underworld." He paused.

"It is also said, that the veil is standing were it is, longer than the Ministry itself. I have heard that it determined where the Department of Mysteries had been built."

"It had been once used to carry the death sentence." He finished quietly.

"So, why did you…?" She blanched, realizing what he just said. What if, despite the fact that she was starting to like him, he was some kind of a criminal?

"You think that I…?" He said with a raised eyebrow. "Oh well, why wouldn't you, after what I've just said." He muttered to himself.

Then he looked her deeply in the eyes, with his unnaturally old ones, and said. "No Rose, No one sent me through the veil. I did it at my free will."

He sighed and with a wave of his hand added a log to the fireplace.

"Sometimes," she had to strain herself to hear what he was saying.

He swallowed hard, watching as fire claimed the log, consuming it with its flames. After a while, in a stronger voice continued, "sometimes… there is no other way. And when the right time comes, you have to make a sacrifice." Harry's voice was resigned, sad, but very determined at the same time. He looked at her with his misty eyes, pleading with her to understand.

_What kind of sacrifice?_ "But you survived!" She said with conviction, somehow ready to accept him as a brother.

"Yeah." He said quietly. "I survived." There was a gratitude in his voice and ghost of a smile on his lips. However his eyes were sadder than, she thought, possible.

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AN:

Thanks for **Reviews**.

The first version got 24 of them! Thanks for your opinions, they did help. I am sorry if I've removed something you liked.

Leave a **Review** and tell me what do you think now.


	6. Chapter 6

**STOP READING and GO BACK to the FIFTH CHAPTER. It has been reposted. I've changed the second part. Leave a REVIEW. **

Enjoy.

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one where the portkey is fast._

They were heading back to the headmaster's office.

The house elf had popped in and informed them that headmaster was back and asking for them.

The way back from the kitchen was peaceful and quiet. Most of the portraits, they were passing, were sleeping peacefully. Hogwarts always seemed so peaceful to Harry, his first home.

By some means they didn't stumbled upon Filch and Mrs. Norris so far. Harry was wondering if they even were here, so many things turned up to be different by then.

It was strange to be there, it was strange to see the Castle intact, to see all the people, he knew should be dead, and so many new to him. The ones he knew, seemed so unlike, some more than he could expected.

He didn't know what was Katie doing during the war, but she never married anyone of the Weasleys.

Alastor Moody, he had the same, gruff voice and surely was good Auror, after all he had managed to spot Harry in the Department of Mysteries. But he was not as scarred as his Moody, with both legs and, as far as Harry saw, he didn't have magical eye.

The Longbottoms were here, alive and sane, he wondered what Neville would be like.

His parents were alive, and, he glanced to his right, he had a sister, a real sister. And she was fun to talk to, she was very bright young witch, reminded him a little of Hermione, but she was much more relaxed. And, she loved Quidditch.

Remus looked somewhat younger and healthier and Sirius… true be told when Harry had seen him in the Death Chamber or the Chamber of Whispers, as here they seemed to call it, he had lost all the concentration. Walking through the veil, he had hoped to see his lost friends and family. It somehow fitted that he would end up just like Sirius did. But what should he think now? He was sure that this Sirius wasn't his Sirius. He didn't gave any indication of recognizing Harry. And he did look different, more… casual, carefree? There was no trace of that haunted look on his face, Harry so clearly remembered.

This Dumbledore seemed different as well. He wasn't as subtle or as guarded as Harry remembered him. And what was Flamel doing here, in Harry's world, as far as Harry knew, he had never played any active role in the Wizarding community.

Harry was afraid to think about Ron, Ginny and Hermione, he was afraid to think about the rest of the Weasley. He had lost them all during the war, and here, they were living their happy lives, never knowing him.

Thoughts about the war brought him back to Voldemort, they had called him Tom Riddle. It seemed he wasn't feared like the Riddle from his world. But he was still a threat. Did he manage to create Horucxes here and what about the prophecy? Harry wondered what had happened, where the differences had started? He had guessed that his other self died in this world. Rose seemed to be the only child.

It was so incredible to see his parents, to hug his mother. Yet, so frightening. He was afraid that they would reject him, but his mum seemed to accept him immediately… and maybe Rose as well. Although he saw James' reaction, not that he should expect anything different, at least from one of them, it was just…. Walking through the veil Harry was resigned, he knew he had the duty to rid the world of Voldemort. He had accepted that he was going to die, and here he was…, still alive.

_Will I have to fight Voldemort here as well? Would they want me to kill him again? Could I not fight, if I can help?_

They were nearing to the Headmaster's office. Rose seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, but she looked more relaxed, probably because her parents were here, that meant nothing had happened to them. Harry hoped that Sirius and Remus were fine.

He wondered if this Dumbledore had been using sweets as passwords to his tower but the passage was already open.

They stepped on the moving staircase to the headmaster office.

"Mum, dad!" Rose rushed to hug her parents as soon as they had entered the office. The Potters stood up from the chairs they were occupying, looking worn but unharmed. Apart of Dumbledore and Flamel they were the only ones in the room. Dumbledore looked, as Dumbledore should look like. His vibrant robes were clean, as if he had just left very pleasant meeting. Flamel was looking safe and sound as well. His robes were more toned in colors but as spotless as headmaster's.

Flamel and Dumbledore, however, were frowning in apparent worry and _confusion?_, Harry wondered. He didn't manage to hear much because when he came closer they stopped talking and turned to meet him. But, he had heard them mentioning something about the Headquarter. Harry wondered what could had happened to Grimmauld Place, it was under the Fidelus Charm after all, and depending on a secret keeper, the Charm was impenetrable. Than he remembered that this was not his world, the headquarter of the Order could be somewhere else. Or there could be no Order in this world. This was very confusing, his whole knowledge about people and places could be misguided here. So many facts he was basing his information on weren't adding up in this world. He looked at the people in the office, as far as he knew, all of them should be dead. But they weren't.

"Is everyone alright?" He asked anxiously. He couldn't help to be worried. Even if he didn't knew these people, he knew the people from his world, fought many battles alongside them, and hearing that someone was named Remus Lupin, was enough for him to care.

"Everyone is alright, Mr. Potter, thank you for asking." Dumbledore said with slightly raised eyebrow.

"Did you manage to stop him?"

"Unfortunately, Tom has escaped us again. But we have managed to catch few of his followers."

"Well, let us settle the matter of your staying Mr. Potter." Dumbledore continued in a more cheerful voice. "I thought that I would arrange for you stay here at Hogwarts, but Mrs. Potter insisted that you go with them to their house. Would it be okay with you?"

Harry looked at the Potters "I don't want to impose…"

"We would be happy to have you home, Harry." Lilly Potter said quickly. Rose was nodding as well.

Harry looked at James, the man was looking closely at him, his hand on Lilly's shoulder.

Harry knew that he had a neutral expression, many years of being in the centre of attention, willingly or not, had taught him never to show his thoughts and feelings. When he was younger, he had always hoped that Dumbledore would teach him how to deal with the fame and attention. Sadly that had never happened. But life was his teacher, and he had eventually learned how to hide the feelings that would only do him harm when spotted, but he had never managed to learn how to put on the pleasant expression, Dumbledore always seemed to wear, his was always a blank face. And that blank face meet James' intense gaze.

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James felt that his response would determine his future concerning this Harry. He somehow knew that he was a good person, but he couldn't bring himself to throw the caution to the bin and hug him as he thought a father should.

They had a hard life with Riddle and his band of morons, who had managed to escape them repeatedly. Thoughts about that menace brought him back to that night, just few months after when Riddle had escaped Azkaban, he had killed his little Harry.

When they had captured some of his followers then, they had found out that he wasn't after James, as most thought, but after little Harry. There supposed to be some stupid prophecy, Riddle had heard somewhere, and his poor boy had been mentioned there. There was no sing of the prophecy in the Hall of Prophecies, Dumbledore had said that it was possible that the prophecy wouldn't be recorded.

His son had died that night.

And now, twenty years later, he stood here in front of him. A person who could be his son, a person who in a way was his son. And still a stranger to him.

But he could also see that the stranger had a hard life himself. It was obvious that he was a warrior, trained to fight, and after he saw him fight he was sure that this Harry had to fight many battles in the place where he came back from. He wondered what had happened in his world, to make him the way he was.

James paused. Came_ back _from?

Lily always told him that the mind usually gave more answers, if you would listen to your thoughts. _Well, Lily talks a lot_.

He knew that he wanted Harry back, as much as Lily did. Sirius seemed to accept him pretty quickly, but Sirius was always quick in his judgment. What surprised him was Remus' reaction. He usually kept to himself, wary of others, always astonished that anyone would like to be his friend. And he had just approved this Harry faster than Sirius.

He also noticed that Rose seemed to like him and she, like Lily, was a good judge of people.

"Of course we would like you to come and stay with us." He said after a moment. "After all, you are family."

He didn't manage to see Harry's expression before his wife throw herself at him with a teary albeit smiling face, but he thought that Harry's mask had slipped for a second.

"I will provide a portkey to your manor James, Lily." Dumbledore said smiling and turned to his desk to find the right object.

"Ah," he took the small plate where the tea had been standing, and silently performed a portus spell.

"I would like to meet with you tomorrow to discuss the satisfactory explanation for your presence here," he finished. Handing them the plate.

James didn't have time to think about that, but Dumbledore made sense, they couldn't say that Harry just crossed the barrier between the worlds.

"As much as I am sure that confirming one of the theories about the Veil would answer many questions," Nicholas continued after Dumbledore, "but the implications could be dangerous as well. As far as we know, you are the only dimension traveler, and that it could be something concerning you, and only you, that allowed you to come here," he finished.

"Would you come here for lunch? All of you of course. We would discuss the matter then," Dumbledore asked, when what Nicholas had said had sunk in.

James and Lily nodded. He saw that Harry nodded as well.

After the goodbyes, they activated the plate.

James felt the tug behind his navel and felt himself swirling and speeding through the space. He groaned mentally, he never liked portkeys, from as long as he remembered he had never managed to land gracefully, that of course, was a subject of jokes between his friends. Thankfully after many, many tries he had discovered the way that allowed him to stay alert as an Auror and don't land on his ass.

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Lily was extremely anxious. She wanted to talk with Harry. She needed to know everything about him. This was a dream came true.

In the headmaster office, when Harry was talking with the professors, Rose had said that he seemed like nice person, he was very nice to the house elves and loved Quidditch. He had mentioned Hermione. The name was very unusual and Lily had known about only one person named Hermione. She was sure that he was talking about Hermione Granger. A very bright which, Lily had been teaching her few years ago, the best student in the school. Flitwick was always so proud with her.

What if she was Harry's girlfriend, Lily thought saddened, Hermione, as far as she knew, was engaged. It must be very hard on him, she realized, he had left family there. He could even be married. He surely had parents and friends. Then she remembered that he had said that some of them should be dead, who did he lose, it was awful to think about losing Rose or James, about losing anyone. She wondered how hard his life had been. But he was there, he was home.

The portkey transported them into the living room . Lily landed gratefully, her daughter did as well.

When she looked at her husband and _son_, she was astonished to see that they had landed in the same fashion.

James had always had problems with portkeys. He had never managed to land without tumbling, but in time he had somehow created his unique way of arriving via portkeys. He always finished the trip kneeling on one knee, hunched a little with his hands on the ground. She thought that even if the position was strange, it gave him the predator look. It also gave him the possibility to jump aside if someone attacked and that was the most important in his profession.

But now she looked between her husband and son. They had landed in the same position, looking at each other surprised.

After a second they straightened and in a way of explanation said simultaneously.

"I've never managed to land gracefully."

"I'm rubbish with portkeys."

They cracked a small smile.

The silence stretched for a minute till Lily shook her awe off and said.

"Well, this is the living room, as I am sure you know…" she noticed that he had put on his emotionless mask again. But just before his face became blank again, it showed extreme sadness.

She saw him looking around slowly, like if he had never been here before. She, Rose and James exchanged worried glances, but before anyone could ask him anything, Harry asked in a quiet voice.

"Are we in Godric Hollow?"

"Weren't you living in…" Lily wasn't sure how to ask, "here?" She finished hesitantly. It was here, even if it was in a different world.

"No," he whispered still looking around.

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They had put him in a pleasantly decorated room. The walls were olive, a few landscape paintings on them. There was a small fireplace on one side, and in front of it two armchairs with a small coffee table in between. On the other wall there was a door to the walkthrough closet and from there to the shared bathroom. By the window, there was a big double bed with two nightstands on the sides. In the corner, there stood a desk with a chair.

It was late at night or early in the morning, but Harry was lying in bed, in one of James' pajama bottoms, awake. He had slept for an hour or so, but usual nightmares had woken him up.

In his world, the house had been destroyed. But not by Voldemort, it was destroyed by his death eaters, few months after his parents died. Harry had never had a chance to be in there, sure Remus had put some of his memories in the pensive once and had shown Harry his parents, few of them was from this house. And he was here now, with his family sleeping under the same roof.

Harry thought about his world, about his struggle to defeat Voldemort. He realized he didn't felt Voldemort neither through his scar nor any part of him in Harry. It should be a relief, but somehow, it made him feel uncomfortable. A part of him, even if the foreign part, was lost. And there was a void needing to be refilled. For hole his life, Harry had had part of Riddle's soul inside of him. Since he managed to find and feel it, he was in a constant battle to surpass it and maintain full control. And now it was gone.

He rolled of the bed and walked to the bathroom grabbing his dragonhide pants and one of Jamse's shirts, his _mum_, had put in the closet.

After the shower he decided to go downstairs and make himself coffee and maybe prepare breakfast for the others. In a twisted, sick way, he was grateful to the Dursleys for using him as their cook. Over the years, he had discovered that cooking calmed him, especially doing it the muggle way.

He entered the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised that it was furnished with muggle equipment. Harry noticed his mum sitting at the table, apparently lost in her own thoughts, and sipping coffee.

"Hi," he said hesitantly, "you mind if I join you?"

"Oh," Lily was startled "of course sit down Harry. Would you like something to drink?"

"Coffee, please." Harry said.

Lily stood up to prepare some for Harry.

He watched her for a moment, not sure what to say.

"Couldn't sleep." He started when she took her position at the table again.

"Yeah, me neither. A lot to take in." Lily said with a small smile.

_You are talking to your mother! You are talking to your mother!_ The sentence kept repeating in Harry's head over and over again. He had so many questions but didn't know how to ask.

"Tell me about it." He sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hand. Than looked at her with a sad smile. "I've always wanted to meet you. But I never thought that it would be in a place where you wouldn't know me."

Lily's eyes winded, a shocked expression on her face.

"What do you mean, you've always wanted to meet me? Did I, did I left you?" She covered her open mouth with her hand. "I died, didn't I?"

Harry cringed inside, he didn't want to say that. He was just thinking how much he wanted to talk to her and never had a chance.

He nodded sadly looking down at his half-empty mug.

"I, I'm sorry. I hope James took good care of you." She said hesitantly.

Harry cringed again. This was hard. He really didn't want to talk about his past but he knew that as much as he wanted to know about them, they would probably like to know about him.

"I, He…" He looked at her with a pained expression, forgetting about his mask.

"Oh…, I am sorry Harry."

They fell silent for a uncomfortable minute.

"Where did you grow up?" Lily asked.

"The Dursleys." This time he saw her cringed. Her expression hardened.

"Who was responsible for that? What was Sirius thinking!" He was surprised at her reaction. He knew that aunt Petunia didn't like his mum, but he never thought that the feeling could be returned. Apparently Lily Potter had similar opinion about the Dursleys that Harry had.

"It wasn't that bad." He tried to lessen her apparent worry. And he didn't want to tell her about Sirius as well. To many deaths in one conversation for his liking. She just raised her eyebrow at him.

"Well, it could be worse."

"As far as I know my sister, it was worse."

"Don't worry, I survived." He smiled a little.

"I'll try not to think about that." Lily paused for a moment. "Rose told me that you were in Gryffindor." He nodded. "James and I were in Gryffindor, Rose is as well."

"I know, she mentioned." He said, and then continued. "Dumbledore said that you teach at Hogwarts. What subject?"

"Ancient Runes and I sometimes fill the Charms for Filius."

"I've heard that you were great, err, are great in Charms."

"Thank you. From what I have seen you are very talented in transfiguration, it is James' field of expertise." She smiled.

"I can manage Charms as well." Harry smiled back.

"Really? That's nice to know that you inherited some other parts of me, apart from eyes."

"I have been told once, that I am more like you than dad." Harry said enjoying the conversation.

"He will be disappointed." Lily laughed.

"Disappointed in what." The sleepy voice asked from the entrance.

"And what are you doing at this hour. It is a crime to be up and happy so early." James bent down to kiss his wife and smiled at Harry.

"Harry was just telling me that he is more like me than you." Lily said happily.

He narrowed his eyes at Lily for a moment, than looked at Harry and shrugged. "It's only fair since Rose is exactly like me." He flashed his wife a brilliant smile. Lily smacked him playfully on the arm.

"She is not as stuck up as you," she said "and she is way smarter."

"I can happily agree." James said.

"But I think, I have to thank you for my Quidditch skills." Harry said looking at James. "Rose said that she plays chaser for the Gryffindors."

"You play?" James looked up at Harry hopefully. "What position?"

"Seeker." Harry said proudly. It was one of his biggest dreams, to tell his parents about him playing Quidditch, where he earned the position thanks to himself and only to himself. "I was the youngest player in the hundred years."

"Really, I know that…, YOU PLAYED IN YOUR FIRST YEAR!" James jumped to the air in joy. "I knew you were a Potter as soon as I saw you!"

Soon they were joined by Rose and had very pleasant, family breakfast, full of laughter and jokes. They sensed that Harry wasn't ready to talk about his life and entertained him with funny stories from Rose youth and James adventures.

All thoughts, about Riddle and the fact that Harry had just came from alternate universe, forgotten. The Potters were the happiest family in the world at that moment. They were whole again.

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AN:

**Thank you** for all your reviews. They make my mind work faster and the words just can't stop coming out. It is great.

Next one to **REVIEW**. Hope you like it.

Sorry for the break, but I was out of town.

I didn't have the time to write the responses but I will answer some questions.

- Harry is 21 – this chapter cleared it, I think.

- The timeline is the same – so 2001.

- Riddle vs. Voldemort - different world, different events, some changes required. This chapter gave some answers and more questions, I hope. Tom Riddle was in Azkaban – What do you think of that? And why?

- Rose being sixteen – I don't think she is a little kid. Remember that in the Wizarding World people become of age at the age of seventeen. I think that they mature faster. Percy started working at the Ministry just out of school. Fred and George didn't even finish school and they have their own shop.

If you have any more questions, please ask.

Oh and nancy thanks for your offer. But I don't think I have a time for a beta. Maybe in the future. I just post when a finish writing and I don't think I would manage to send it to beta then correct it then send it back then post it then…. No, no, no beta for now. Hope you will bear with my English. I will try to improve.

I will post the list of you, my wonderful Reviewers, in the next chapter. Hope it will be a long list.

**Review** this chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one without the title. _

„Mr. Potter, I would like to suggest that you consider pretending to be James' nephew." They were sitting in Dumbledore's private chambers in the Headmaster's Tower.

Harry hated this place, it was here that he found out about Hermione and Ron's death. He was practicing his animagus form with McGonagall, when the news came. Because of that he never managed to appreciate his form, and this place just gave him creeps.

But he suppressed those thoughts, they were talking about his future, not his past.

"I could agree to this, but I don't remember having any relatives from my father's side. And what about people that attacked me?"

It was Nicholas who answered him, "You are correct, Harry, James doesn't have any other family, however, I am friends with some people from Australia and New Zealand and we think it could be arranged. Everyone would believe, that you came from one of those countries. Necessary records would be created, of course, and we could tell people that you were home schooled. If someone asked, we would say that the accent has been modified with _vocaelo_ spell."

"You don't have to worry about the Ministry workers that saw you. The ones that we are not sure about, were oblivated. And the rest, are our friends, we can trust." Dumbledore finished smiling.

"So the Order knows." Harry stated, "May I know exactly who would be privy to this information." He enjoyed the shocked looks on their faces, even Dumbledore lost his twinkle for a moment, however, Harry was surprised to notice that Flamel was smiling, and that was him that answered the question. _Well_, Harry thought, _it is only fair, the man is what.. four, five hundred years old and he is Dumbledore's mentor, after all_.

"I am glad that you know about the Order, Harry, and to answer your question, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Poppy Pomfrey, Katie Weasley and the Potters, Albus and myself, of course."

"Very well, I can accept them." Harry said thinking that he would want to talk to the Longbottoms, they were the only ones he didn't talk to, well apart from his parents and Rose. It felt strange, his sister, his parents…, really strange, but nice, nonetheless.

"Don't you think that me being so similar to James would be a problem, that people would get suspicious?" After all he did look almost like James and appearing out of nowhere and fitting the description of the Potters' son could rise some questions.

"We don't believe so, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "the unfortunate event that led to our Harry's death, happened twenty years ago," he glanced sadly at Lily and James. "The Potters are known and respected family, however, we live under a constant threat of Tom Riddle and as unpleasant as it is, deaths happen from time to time. We don't think that your presence would stir any memories. And as most of the closest friends would know about you, no one should suspect anything."

Harry could see the logic in those words, he glanced at the Potters. Rose looked sad at mentioning the other Harry or the other deaths, Harry didn't know. And James and Lily had a mixture of sadness, longing and guilt, on their faces. He suspected that the guilt part was due him being there and the fact that they were happy about it. It meant a lot to him that they thought so well about him, but it also reminded him, that he was not their Harry.

"We think, however, that your presence here, would catch Riddle's attention. Some safety measu…"

Harry turn Dumbledore off for a moment, _so Tom killed my other self_, that created many questions, Harry decided to look through some old newspapers or read Hogwarts: A History, he wasn't sure if asking out laud would be the best idea, this place was very different.

"I think I can handle Tom," he stated firmly, interrupting Dumbledore rather rudely, the man suggested that Harry stay within Hogwarts or the Godric Hollow for awhile and when out he should be accompanied by an Order member, just in case. _Okay, maybe not everything is so different._ Harry sighed. _Dumbledore is still Dumbledore_. Harry was sure that as much as to protect, the minders would keep a close eye on him.

Dumbledore stopped speaking his list of pros and frowned, loosing his twinkle again. It was strange that Harry could read the man so easily. Harry decided to change the subject slightly, and dismiss the topic of his 'protection' for now. He knew that Dumbledore would return to that, as far as Harry remembered, Dumbledore should chose to show some of his aura flare, to intimidate him. The trick was so old that it was a shame that so many could be fooled that way, but Harry was taught by the second best in using it, Aberfoth Dumbledore, though, he always used it on his rowdy customers, rather than Ministry diplomats.

He looked with a slightly boring expression at Headmaster's display of power and then turned to Flamel and asked.

"What about my name, wouldn't it be weird to have the same name. And, well, my second name is James, so that is rather out of the question, as well."

He could see that Flamel was amused, his eyes twinkled merrily. Dumbledore on the other hand was fun to watch, not that Harry was looking.

Harry wasn't a child anymore, he wasn't a child for a long time, and as the one who led the Order and those who chose to fight against Voldemort, he had learned how to be a leader. Undermining the authority of Dumbledore wasn't the best of actions Harry could choose, but he wouldn't allow anyone to tell him what to do. And that should be clear as fast as possible.

Harry didn't see the looks on the Potters' faces, he hoped they wouldn't think him arrogant.

Nicholas Flamel seemed obvious to the silent war, between Harry and Dumbledore, only his eyes gave him away, they were almost laughing out loud.

"I don't think that using your name, Harry, will be a problem. You seem older than twenty-one, and that will also be a additional disguise. You can easily add three or four years if someone asked."

By the time Flamel finished, Dumbledore had composed himself again and with a smile asked.

"What about your wand, Mr. Potter? It could be a problem if you use a wand that have the same signature that the wand in our world. We thought, that we would like to check if someone was using the same wand." His twinkle was dimmed a little.

Harry sighted, he knew that he would have to tell them about his world, he already decided that he would do it when he found out more about this world first, but some facts should be said.

"Well…, from where I came form, we were at war with Voldemort. And yes, he managed to widespread the use of this title. He was successful to the point that people were afraid to even call him by this name, using the title You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and there were very few that knew his real name." He paused to gather his thoughts.

"That's ridiculous, why would people be afraid to use his name, more so, if it was a fake one." James spoke for the first time since they started talking about Harry's new identity.

_My thoughts exactly_, Harry mussed, but shoot James' hard and a very meaningful look that seemed to shut him with a silent "Oh.."

"Anyway," Harry continued, not noticing the worried glances of the other occupants of the room, "when I was sixteen, our wandmaker, Mr. Olivander," he looked at Dumbledore and Flamel to see them nod, "disappeared, some time later, Mr. Gregorovich, vanished as well." He could see that the name of the other wandmaker was known as well. "Within the year, three more craftsmen were killed. It is not that creating a wand was some kind of a secret, there were many books about the process, but during the war…." Harry shrugged falling silent.

"I lost my wand during one of the battles, that year. Well…, since I seem to have a knack for a wandless magic, it helped. I never acquired another wand, though." Harry knew that wandless magic was possible, more due the power, than ability, and he could see that Dumbledore and Flamel knew that as well.

The silence stretched for awhile. Harry lost in his sad memories. The others trying to digest the information he gave.

He knew that he gave them a lot of clues about his life and decided that he wouldn't allow them to ask their questions just yet.

"Sometimes, I used a conjured stick to appear as if I was carrying a wand. I could do it here," he paused, then a thought struck him, "or, I could buy myself a new wand." He looked to Flamel and Dumbledore to see what they thought about it.

After a moment, still, rather distracted Dumbledore said, "I think that it is an excellent idea, Mr. Potter."

Harry nodded and looked at his family. He saw that they had tears in their eyes. Before he could say anything Lily had thrown herself at him, hugging him tightly. Harry sighed in the embrace of his mother, wondering if he said to much.

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James was listening to what Harry was saying with wide eyes. He wasn't shocked that they seemed to fight a long war in Harry's universe, James was fighting in a war since he had graduated, what shocked him, was the scale of it in Harry's home. They were afraid to say Riddle's name, his fake one, what did he do to inflict such fear? What's more, killing the wandmakers, it was stupid and pointless, unless someone wanted to kill everyone and prevent people from… living. He shuddered, that's not all what he had noticed, the Riddle, from Harry's world, it seemed, he was active all around the world, not only on the Isles. And Harry had fought in the battles when he was sixteen!

James looked at his daughter, from her expression, he could see that she had noticed those things as well, he couldn't imagine her fighting to death in any battle. He took Rese's hand and squeezed it. She didn't look up but grab his hand in hers and didn't let go.

Lily's eyes were misty, she probably noticed more important details than he did. James put his arm around his wife in a silent comfort and suddenly remembered that many times, she had said that she felt as if Harry was struggling, fighting, wherever he was. Could it be that she felt this Harry?

James wondered how they died in Harry's world. When his wife hugged his son, soon joined by his daughter in a group, family hug, James stood up as well and patted his son reassuringly, letting him know. that he had his support.

Harry had a surprised but grateful expression on his face, however, his eyes were sad. James noticed that they brightened only a little during their breakfast. Another prove of his hard live.

"Harry," he asked hesitantly, surprising himself, "how did we die?"

The younger man stiffened immediately, his face became blank again. He looked at James with Lily's eyes, but so much older at the moment. Lily's sobs lessened and she looked at Harry as well.

James didn't dare to look away from those eyes, he could see that his son was fighting internal battle, deciding how much should he tell them, or anything at all. James new that they died when he was young, and that he grew up with those awful muggles, the Dursleys. He couldn't understand why not with Sirius or Remus or Alice and Frank, surely someone would take care of him.

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Harry sighed, probably for the tenth time that day. He didn't know how to tell them the story without reveling the prophecy, or the fact that he survived the killing curse.

He took a deep breath, "I think you should sit down."

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AN:

Another chapter to go, another chapter to **REVIEW**.

If you have any questions, please ask.

Mr. Gregorovich – HP4, Krum's wandmaker.

**Thank you very, very much. **

Chapter 4 - Tritium; cj-cold; Bluie Twilight Star; nljfs; Hpfan550; Viira; Madengineer; Goku-lover21; Mog-everything; Chris-Halliwell; Gato-sama; Shadowed Rains; Bloodless Ace; zan189; pixy; Lady Gallatea Ravenclaw; Maygie07; KTskywalker; Ava; you muggle; Never Odd Or eveN; Szihuoko; Marguerida; Althea; Inu-Angel Z; Padfoot Reincarnated;

Chapter 5 - Shadowed Rains; cj-cold; william488; .; Mystiksnake; puffskein; Emmelz; Jinxeh; Maygie07; Jarno; wolfbear; hit0-; Bluebear13; viira; Szihuoko; ALTHEA WHERE ARE YOU?; Bloodless Ace; Chris-Halliwell; Marguerida; Bluie Twilight Star; KTskywalker; Gato; CrimsonReality; .; Ava (to lazy to log-in); Jenniyah; japanese-jew; nljfs; Inu-Angel Z; you muggle; zan189;

Chapter 6 - Mirax Myra Terrik; sparkley-tangerine; Bluebear13; Emmelz; Szihuoko; .; becky; .; Bluie Twilight Star; lilly tiger; Althea; viira; Marguerida; you muggle; Padfoot Reincarnated; hero-chan; Bloodless Ace; Creator's Lost Island; KTskywalker; Inu-Angel Z; CrimsonReality; william488; Shadowed Rains; ImproperUseOfMotorVehicles; pixy; japanese-jew; cj-cold;

To all of you Sirius fans, yes Padfoot Reincarnated, I mean you, Harry will talk with Sirius soon, I don't know if I will fit it in the next chapter but they will talk and they will drink, I am just not sure where, yet.

Shadowed Rains – thank you for reviewing wide grin, nodding head, scratching my left arm… err… anyway, the changes didn't have any impact on the story plot, trying to remember I moved the action to the kitchen, instead Dumbledore's office, there was something about the elves added, but the old version doesn't exist anymore looking happily at the burning fireplace no worries the story goes on.

japanese-jew – thanks for pointing that out, but I think that was Harry's, I've added the line there, so go and check it. If there is still something wrong, let me know.

And I have my own two "dots" reviewing – _aww_ – thank you guys.

KTskywalker – Great that you like it, keep reading, and don't forget to review. Thanks

Becky – we'll see about that. I'm glad you like it.

you muggle – does it really look like that, I will check what I've written.

cj-cold – Thanks, keep guessing, I believe you're close.


	8. Chapter 8

Just simple **Thanks** seems not enough, but I can offer you that and a next chapter. **Review**.

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one…, just that, the one._

Harry stood in front of the cracking fireplace. His back to the room. He was thinking hard, how to explain what needed to be explained and keep secret what should be kept secret. After a moment of silent mussing he could feel the tension in the room. He felt their expectant looks on his back.

But he needed to know at least few things before he would say anything. Just a few details.

"Before I begin," he said turning to the room, "I need you to answer some of my questions first."

He waited for their nods.

"I need to know how I died?"

The question hung in the air for several minutes.

Harry knew, that by asking that, he would hurt his parents. He could easily see by Lily's reaction, her teary eyes were enough to confirm his thoughts. He saw James glance sadly at his wife and daughter. His shoulders slouched. Then he looked at his hands and wasn't the one to answer.

It was Flamel, his voice rang through the chamber, his expression grave.

"You were killed by Tom Riddle, as we already mention it. It happened during the Halloween night, on October 31, 1981."

_So I died at the same time my parents did in my world. _Harry thought.

"He had brought few of his supporters with him. James and Lily, they had managed to fight them off for almost half an hour. Thankfully, some of their friends showed up earlier to the party they were throwing." Flamel paused and looked at James and Lily. Lily was crying, holding very sad looking Rose. James had tears in his eyes as well. He still hadn't looked up.

"During the fight, Riddle had somehow passed behind them and crept to Harry's room, where he… killed him."

"Did he use the killing curse, or some other means." Harry asked noticing that Flamel's voice wavered. Lily wailed harder, Rose was consoling her, looking teary herself. Harry saw James clenched his hands into fists, his jaw set.

Flamel sighed, reluctant to tell the story, but finished nonetheless. "No," he said quietly, "he sliced his throat with something sharp, probably knife."

Harry processed the information in silence. He might had looked cold and uncaring, he saw to many horrors, and Occlumency always helped dealing with results of war, but he was far from it. Oh, how he hated the vile creature. And after he had lost so many, after he had scarified so much, he ended in a place where Tom Riddle still existed. He thought that walking through the veil, he would make the ultimate sacrifice but somehow that was not his time yet. Maybe Riddle wasn't as feared as in Harry's world. Maybe he wasn't as powerful as Voldemort. But from what Harry gathered, he was as evil as the one Harry had spent his life fighting. And he was still running loose.

Harry's expression hardened as he was thinking thoughts, he hoped, never to cross his mind in his next great adventure.

"You weren't under Fidelius?" Harry asked James. It wasn't even a question, more like confirming his suspicions.

James looked up surprised at being asked. "No," he said in a strained voice, "the house was warded in the usual way."

"Did he attack the Longbottoms as well?" His question startled the others. Harry was watching Dumbledore very closely, looking for any indication that the old wizard knew about the prophecy. But he could only see confusion there, no hidden knowledge, nothing, just plain curiosity.

Harry waited patiently for an answer. After awhile Dumbledore shook his head. "He never attacked them directly."

"They have a son, Neville, right?" Harry asked hesitantly. For the first time there was a visible nervousness in his voice. The others wondered if Harry knew Neville from his dimension.

"Yes, I believe he is your age." Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded, he was quickly loosing his composure. _Neville is my age. He is alright_. Harry took a deep breath, he still didn't know about the prophecy.

"Did you," Harry paused, looking at Dumbledore, "Does Sybil Trelawney work here as a Divination teacher."

Another question that was met with confused glances.

"Our Divination teacher is Hammy Hames. She's been teaching for over twenty two years." It was Dumbledore again that answered him.

Harry sighed with relief, almost sure that the prophecy were never made in this world. It seemed that Dumbledore never meet his Divination teacher. But why would Riddle kill the other Harry. From what they said, it looked like he had come to kill him. Or was he just cruel, and even if not strong enough to kill them, he wanted to harm the Potters.

Fawkes appeared suddenly in a burst of flames, startling the occupants. Dumbledore took the note, the beautiful bird brought, read it, then frowned. He scribed something on a piece of paper and gave it to Fawkes. The Phoenix thrilled beautifully and vanished with another burst of flames. Harry was surprised seeing the bird, after all, Fawkes had left after Dumbledore's death, but then he remembered where he was.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked.

"No, no. I am sorry for interruption." Dumbledore said, but he didn't elaborate. He looked expectantly at Harry to continue.

"Right," Harry didn't know if he should just ask about prophecy, but he decided that, most likely, there was no prophecy in this world. "For me, it all started on the same night that, it seems, for the other me, all ended."

"As I said earlier, Riddle was known in my world as Lord Voldemort. And that name inflicted fear. There weren't many that could stood against him. In fact there were very few. In my world, at a time, there was only one, that Lord Voldemort feared, the one who defeated Grindewald," all eyes turned to the Headmaster. _So he did it here as well_. "Dumbledore." He finished.

"My parents were a part of the Order. And they were one of those, very few, that had escaped his wrath. They did it tree times." Harry paused for a moment. "After I was born they decided to go into hiding, under a Fidelius Charm."

Harry continued to tell the story. Their eyes hardened when he said about what Wormtail did.

"Your love saved me," he smiled at his mum, "he took you away, but it saved me and have been protecting me for many years." He had found himself engulfed in her wonderful hug again.

They had tears in their eyes when they found out where Sirius had spent twelve years of his life. His parents already new about the Dursleys. And he didn't really want to talk about his years spent there. He told them about the Philosopher Stone and Flamel's death. The ancient wizard only said, that he considered destroying the Stone himself, on a few occasions.

It turned out they knew about the Chamber of Secrets and the Basilisk. However in their world it took a squad of Aurors and fifty roosters, to kill it. The dairy never surfaced in that world. After he told them about his third year he noticed James' angry looks whenever he brought Snape's name.

To his relief, he had found out that Ron and Hermione, as well as Ginny, were alive and safe. But he didn't ask about them, he wasn't ready, he had mourned them long and knowing they were alive, was enough for then.

Telling his story, Harry had noticed that he spoke mostly of sad and scary things. His good memories were blurred and a very small part of him.

The story grew darker and darker. The mood in Dumbledore's private chambers was getting sadder with every new event from Harry's life.

When he was finishing telling them about his fourth year at Hogwarts, the tears were falling freely and horrified expressions met his words.

"I saw the echo of you coming from his wand," he paused looking at his parents "but strangely, it is one of my best memories of you. For the first time I had a chance to hear your voices, other than when Dementors are near me."

Harry had a wistful smile on his face. He was surprised that when he had managed to deal with Cedric's death, memories of his parents, telling him to go on, that they were proud of him, were the most memorable from his first real duel with Voldemort. Those were one of the memories, that kept him going during the hardest times.

He didn't tell them why his friends and he had gone to Department of Mysteries, only that to save Sirius. Never mentioning the supposed weapon. The news that he was forced to take the Occlumency lessons with Snape, were met with angry accusations in the direction of Dumbledore. The wizard didn't even try to defend the decisions of his other self.

Telling them about Sirius' death had brought another wave of tears from Harry's family.

The professors, however, had a thoughtful expressions when he said how his godfather died.

His sixth year was described rather briefly. Harry had omitted the Horcruxes and concentrate on telling them about Dumbledore's death and Malfoy's role in it. Harry could see that James almost rushed to the dungeons to face Snape, when Harry informed them who killed the Headmaster. It turned out that Snape wasn't in the Order in this world, but he also wasn't suspected of siding with Riddle. Even if few, James and Sirius among them, thought him evil.

Harry had found it surprisingly easy to talk about all of that by then. Those were old memories. Memories of times when he was young and naïve. He was getting more nervous when he had started telling them about more recent events.

He told them about his training, about his increasing role in the Order. It was hard to describe events and explain why people had chosen to listen to him, without revealing the prophecy.

When he was telling them about the battles he had had to participate, about his dying friends, his voice had become tense. He was struggling to finish the story.

They were shocked to the bone, when they heard that it came to destruction of Ministry, Hogsmade and some parts of Hogwarts. That Beauxbatons Academy didn't exist, as well as some other, smaller schools. They couldn't believe that Harry had set himself and the men he was leading, to destroy Durmstrang. He had mentioned places that even James, Lily and Rose had never heard of. But the shocked looks on Flamel and Dumbledore's faces, had told them that those places were of some significance.

Harry had finished his story, telling them about his fight with Voldemort, on the debris of the Department of Mysteries. They had already knew about his connection with Voldemort. He had told them, that he had killed the monster. And that he had walked through the veil, after he had sent there Dark Lord's dead body. He had to be sure that any parts of Riddle were removed from his world.

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"Rose said that we should somehow brighten Harry up," James said to Lily when he had walked into their bedroom.

It was much later in the evening. They had come back from Hogwarts when it was getting dark.

Lily had been sitting on the bench by the window. She was gazing out the window, into the clear, summer night. James noticed that she had been withdrawn ever since Harry had finished his story.

He walked to her and stood beside her taking her hand in his.

"I can't even start to imagine living the life he had." She whispered in a teary voice. James didn't say anything.

"And the things he didn't say? James, how can one person live through that? Where is justice in all of that?" She was crying freely by then, holding his hand tightly to her heart.

"I…"she started in a chocked voice, "I th-think, I am glad our Harry died." She cried harder. "I don't know if I could sacrifice myself like that, knowing what would happened." She chocked on the words, her breath shallow. "Am-Am I a bad mother?" She broke down completely.

James knelt beside her, he was crying as well, and took her in his arms. He let her cry, comforting her quietly.

"No, honey. You are a wonderful mother. Don't think about that, love. Be proud of him. He survived and became a man we met, Lils." He stroke her hair.

"He is with us now," he said softly, "and no matter how hard his life had been, he has a family that will love him through the rest of it." They stayed silent for a long time, thinking about their son.

Finally Lily turned from the window and looked at him. Her beautiful, green eyes were teary, but a small smile graced her angel face.

"Thank you James. I love you."

"I love you longer." He smiled and kissed his wife tenderly.

Some time later, they were watching the sleepy, peaceful street, silently.

"When do you think he will come back? I think he should stay, he was obviously tired." Lily said anxiously.

"They'll be fine, honey. I'm sure that Harry and Sirius are having fun together."

Lily snorted despite her evident worry. "Yeah. I am sure Sirius is trilled that he will have someone he can go to pick some girls with. Oh, how many times I've heard that Remus is no fun and Kingsley is to stiff." She finished shaking her head. But then she sobered again. "I hope that Harry can relax. Did you notice that he is always so alert? Even today at breakfast, when laughing and all, he seemed so…, I don't know, aware?"

James nodded. "I think Rose was right, we should arrange something. I think a Quidditch match, well, and a picnic, would be a good idea. We could put together a bunch of people and have fun."

After another few minutes of silence James said.

"I don't think he will be back today, honey." He leaned and kissed her lovingly. "Come to bed, love.

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AN:

And there you have it.

Now, of course, you must **Review** and tell me what you think about the chapter. I mean it, no matter if you are signed or anonymous, click the button, leave few words.

**Thank you** for your **reviews.** I really am grateful. I don't know how to express my gratitude. And thanks for your tips as well.

Chris Halliwell - As I am sure you've noticed, Sirius and Remus are not a couple. Sorry mate, but I can't picture myself with a man and I couldn't write anything like that. I wouldn't know how and I wouldn't like to read it. … Great that you are from New Zealand, it is nice to know that someone is reading my story over there. I mean, this is the furthest place from Poland. You couldn't go any further because you would start coming back.

Chapter 7 - Midnight Dragon Shadow; Freak in Corner; Emmelz; Crydwyn; Joanna Potter; .; bananana; Althea; Anave Lipad; Chris-Halliwell; NoAlias; Bloodless Ace; haro-chan; pinkharry; william488; Jinxeh; Bluie Twilight Star; japanese-jew; CrimsonReality; Shadowed Rains; Inu-Angel Z; Mystiksnake; Intromit; Padfoot Reincarnated; sparkley-tangerine;


	9. Chapter 9

**Of course everyone knows that drinking is bad. Don't do it. The characters will be drinking alcohol in this chapter, read on your own risk.**

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one when they are drunk._

Some things seemed so easy. Fighting bad wizard, repelling dementors, or even stunning a giant was one of those. Harry would never thought that meeting his parents, one of the things he dreamed of, was going to turn him into nervous wrack. He learned to believe himself strong and brave enough to face everything that world would throw at him. But seeing so many people he thought dead and hearing about others, even more dear to him, alive, that was taking a toll at him.

Since Dumbledore's death Harry had never had time to just rest and relax. He was in a constant battle, no matter if with Voldemort, the Order, his friends, or himself during his rigorous training.

He could never bring himself to loosen his paranoid vigilance. There was Voldemort, always and everywhere, he was haunting him in his dreams as well as during the walking time, running around, trying to destroy everything on his path to 'greatness'. The prophecy held true, …_for neither can live while the other survives_…, it was true for Harry, but it was also true for Voldemort.

_But what about this world?_

As Harry walked into the pub, two steps behind his godfather, the loud noise of people laughing and chatting animatedly hit him. There wasn't room to swing a kneazle, as Hagrid would said.

It was his first visit to the outside world, and the magic inside was just buzzing with positive feelings. These people were carefree and …happy. He sensed some darker traits, but nothing that would rise his suspicions. Harry was astonished, he couldn't remember the last time when he was around that many happy people. He decided that he would try very hard to relax that evening.

"Oj! Black! Potter! Over here!" Someone shouted from their left.

"Ryan!" Sirius shouted back. "What was that with the United. I've heard that Wood's tactic crushed you!"

The man, Ryan, scowled. Harry vaguely remembered the face but couldn't placed the burly man anywhere.

"Shut up! They got lucky. We'll get them next time." Some of his friends yelled in agreement.

"I wont complain. I've earned fifteen gallons, thanks to you." Sirius laughed.

"You're not drinking with us again, you bloody traitor." The man shouted.

Sirius just laughed and waved to the group and leaded Harry to the box near the bar.

"Polly, honey, How are you this beautiful evening? The usual for us, plus butterbeer and a bottle of Ogden's." Sirius flashed the waitress his most suggestive smile and wink at her. Harry noticed that the young, attractive women blushed prettily.

When the drinks and food was brought, Sirius waved his wand over their box and silenced the area. Harry automatically added his own security spells as well. The silence was welcomed with some relief.

"Can you bloody believe it, mate? No one have noticed that you're not James. Oh, this is going to be so great." Sirius rubbed his hands excitedly. He securitized Harry for a moment "You're obviously younger, and the glasses. We could put James in so much trouble. I mean, he would freak out."

"Err, I don't know if it would be a good idea." Harry said hesitantly. This was Sirius alright. Harry just didn't know how the man could dismiss the fact that Harry just came from another world and act as if they were old friends.

"You've got to be kidding me!" The look of horror that he gave him made Harry chuckle. "Look," he got serious, "I know that we should get to know each other better and all that, and we'll do that" he paused, "but I've learned to trust Lily's and Rose's judgment of characters and they seemed to accept you pretty quick. Lily would never left Rose with you if she didn't believe you. Besides, your story is so far fetched that it could only be true." He finished and started digging into his food.

Sirius had always treated him like a friend, sometimes forgetting that Harry wasn't James,. Harry remembered that it had irritated him often. But maybe, after all those years, it would be better that way. Harry had found the father figure, partly in Remus and Arthur, and partly in Aberforth during their travel and his training. He wasn't a kid anymore. Having a friend, who so blindly accepted him, gave Harry some comfort. He got the feeling that sooner or later he would have to face Riddle again. There always was some evil in the world, the balance would have to be kept.

But for now, Harry would try and make a life for himself. The chance he received shouldn't be taken lightly. He had a family, his friends were alive. So what if he would have to befriend with them again. He could start all over, without the strings of the prophecy.

"Okay, I'm listening," Harry said after awhile. "What did you have in mind?" He asked rising his eyebrow.

Sirius instantly looked up from his roast chicken, huge grin on his face. "I knew you had it in you. Lets eat, then we'll think of something huge."

Harry nodded and started digging himself. He was rather hungry himself. The food he found on the plate was one of his favorite, lamb chops, and it was delicious.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Oh, Merlin! Please, please tell me it's true." Sirius was almost rolling on the floor.

It had been few hours later, the food was eaten, butterbeer drunk and second Firewhisky almost finished.

They had decided that they would pull a prank on James later. Because Harry really didn't know much about that and didn't feel right to make a joke on his father. He didn't have a chance to know him yet. And Sirius had to many pranks in mind, he couldn't stop for long enough to concentrate on one in particular.

They were smashed by the time, really smashed. The crowd had thinned considerably in the pub but they didn't notice.

"Well, I didn't pay attention, I was trying to stay on a broom, but his robes went on fire." Harry said or rather slurred, laughing himself.

"I would kill to see that." Sirius said in a dreamy voice. "Snivellus on fire." He shook his head again. "She had really sneaked to the Professor's booth and put one of them on fire. Amazing."

"Yeah, and it was our first year."

If one could hear them, one would understand very little from what they were saying. But being drunk as they were they understood themselves perfectly, even if sometimes speaking about totally different things.

"I mean, I know Granger…"

"We became friends when I put my wand into the Troll's nose." Harry said happily.

"…she works… huh?" Sirius paused when what Harry was saying penetrated his clouded mind.

"I said I put my wand into the Troll's nose when we became friends." Harry stopped speaking confused. Then he chuckled when he realized what he just said. Sirius laughed with him even if he was laughing about entirely different thing.

"What I meant to say is," Harry paused with his finger raised, "err?" he trailed off.

"The Troll?"

"Ah, yes! I put my wand into his nose and Ron knocked him out cold with his club. Then we became friends with Hermione." Harry smiled happily at the thoughts.

"She is under Remus at the Ministry." Sirius said in a slurred voice. He laughed when he said 'under'. Harry, on the other hand, in spite of the alcohol froze. His face suddenly white, his hands started to shake. When Sirius noticed that Harry didn't laugh with him, he asked.

"What's the matter, mate?"

"She's dead. I was on her funeral." Harry said shaking his head.

"No she's not, I know her," Sirius was saying in bewilderment, "I tried to hit on her last year, but she didn't fell for me," he shook his head, but then steadied himself because it was to much movement. "She's as strict as McGonagall, I would never believe she could do something like that. Put Snivellus on fire." He laughed again.

"But…, but I saw her dead!" Harry exclaimed angrily.

"Whoa, mate. Come down." Sirius held his hands in the air. "No need to get angry," he paused for a moment, obviously in deep thought.

Suddenly he brightened "I know! We'll go and find her, and I'll prove to you that she's alive." He smiled proudly and took another swing from the bottle. His ears smoking after the shot. He gave the bottle to Harry.

He accepted the swing. The idea of finding Hermione applied very much to his drunken mind.

"Okay, lets go." He said standing up, only to slump down instantly, the world swirling fast.

xxxxxxxxxx

Hermione Granger had had a very tiring week. She had been summoned to the head of Magical Law Enforcement twice this week. Her boss, Remus Lupin, usually was dealing with that department, being as he had many friends there. But he was absent few days ago when they needed someone from Magical Beings Department and she was second in line, she had to respond.

The Aurors had caught some wandering Mountain Trolls, and of course, no one knew their language, and where they came from. As it turned out, the group was from a small tribe, in the Highlands of Scotland. And the dominating male was a son of the chief of the tribe. Which meant too many paperwork, for her liking.

Not that she minded, she liked her job very much.

It always annoyed her that Wizarding World was so much behind the Muggle World, when it came to culture and beliefs. She hated that Wizards allowed slavery. Fortunately, thanks to her project and approval of the Wizengamot; once a year, every house-elf would have to be asked if he or she wished to be release from the bond. The venture was expensive to finance and not too popular in the community, but she was very proud of it. At least one step had been made.

Currently it was around two in the morning, she was still sitting by the table in her kitchen. Few documents were scattered around the table. Hermione was finishing a report about the Trolls.

She had been living in Diagon Alley, in a flat, above a small second-hand bookshop, between Olivander's and second-hand robe shop. She had been living there for two years, since she took the position in the Ministry.

It was a two bedroom flat, with a bathroom and one kitchen-living room area. She absolutely loved her place. She didn't have a TV-set, the fireplace stood in the place where a TV would if it was a muggle apartment. However, she had a fridge in the kitchen and thanks to her Head of House, Professor Flitwick, she had what looked like muggle lights in the flat.

Flitwick had helped her to create specific charms to allow the lights run on magic. Because there was one thing about Hermione, that made her quite unique among her colleagues, she loved to learn and she absolutely loved to read. And as good as reading with a candle might sound, she felt it stupid to tire ones eyes unnecessary.

When one would enter her flat, he or she would think that it was a library albeit very homey one. She had books everywhere, on the shelves, on the table, even some were laying in neatly stashed

piles on the floor. She would give Mrs. Callie, who was the owner of the flat and the shop below, a run for her money, if she decided to sell her books. Not that it would ever happened.

The reason that Hermione was still working was not that she had to turn the report due tomorrow and not that she liked to sit at night and work. No, the reason was entirely different.

She looked at her hand. Hermione was engaged. Had been for a week. And tomorrow her fiancé would be back from Monaco, where he was attending a conference about International Magical Trading Standards.

Skylar Mitchel, her fiancé, was working for Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was three years older, fellow Ravenclaw. But she didn't have much contact with him during her school times. They met during one of the official Ministry banquets. It wasn't a love from the first sight, she was, however, fascinated with him. Skylar was a very intelligent man and it was his knowledge that attracted her more than anything else. He was a handsome man, not too tall but taller then she, with light brown hair and intelligent amber eyes.

He had similar eyes to Mr. Lupin's, she sighed somewhat sadly, but without that mischievous glint that Remus' sometimes held. Remus' eyes always became incredibly alive and adventurous when his two best friends came to visit him. James Potter and Sirius Black.

She shook her head smiling, when she thought about Mr. Black. Over a year ago, he had tried to get her to agree to go on a date with him. Of course she declined. His reputation was well known around the Ministry. Except deep down, she knew that she was very close to accepting his offer. His eyes held the most amount of that happy glint, she was so attracted to. She was sure that no matter if he would be faithful to her or not, he would easily make her laugh and feel attractive.

Oh, she loved Skylar, but when she was younger, she had always imagined that when she would fall in love, she would feel something similar when she felt when she was thinking about some rare books she just bought. Her relationship lacked excitement and… passion, that some other couples seemed to share.

Even if her life wasn't exiting, her imagination had always portrayed her with someone who would always know how to keep her spirits high, make her laugh and be her knight in the shiny armor. She was always a little jealous of some other couples. She remembered Mrs. Potter, a professor of her favorite subject, back in Hogwarts. Sometimes she saw her and Mr. Potter, joking around each other.

She remembered wondering what would happened if she would end up in a different, more adventurous House, mainly Gryffindor. How would her life looked like. The Sorting Hat considered putting her there but decided against it. Hermione was almost sure that she had figured it out why. It was because of that Malfoy. He was laughing at her on the train. He was laughing that she was stupid, because she was muggleborn, well he called her differently. He made her a little afraid that every wizard was like him, and that in fact, she was far behind others in her study.

But that was her life. She didn't have too many friends, and a reasonable thing to do, was to agree to a proposal of a man, she thought, she could have endless conversations with, in every subjects.

But Hermione knew that she wanted something more. Despite that she agreed, she still wasn't sure. She felt that something was missing from her life.

And when Skylar would return she wanted to talk to him about that. Thankfully, they didn't inform her parents by then. She was truly considering asking him to wait a little longer. But what could happened that would change her life? She rarely went anywhere and met knew people. She was sure that until someone knocked on her door and turn around her life, nothing would change.

And then, just when Hermione Granger decided to go to bed and catch some sleep before work…

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK.

xxxxxxxxxx

AN:

WOW so many **Reviews** for last chapter.

And Thank you all for your **Reviews**.

Ryan, Barry - Keeper for the Irish National Side Made a spectacular save against Poland's top Chaser, Ladislaw Zamojski in 1995 (JKR). Currently coach of Montrose Magpies (ME).

Okay, this chapter just came out of blue, I really had something different planned. But well, it is what it is.

I am eagerly awaiting your **REVIEWS**. I need to know what you think about it. I mean it – **REVIEW**.

It is 4:20 in the morning now and I need some sleep.

**To 'The Dot'** – Sorry you sometimes look so different that it is easy to think that there are more then one. Thanks for **Reviewing**. You can call your friends, the other 'dots' to Review as well.

**hit0-** - I think they will find out eventually. You just have to wait and read. Thanks for your **Reviews**. Really, really thanks.

**CANADIAN-COOLIO** – Ow…, come on, give Harry a break. He just came from totally different world, he thought he was going to die. I will let him meet some of his friends first, I think. But the action will be there, don't worry. Thanks for **Reviewing**. I am awaiting for your response to this chapter.

**Jinxeh** – I am sorry to say but Harry's Sirius is dead. Yes, he died falling through the veil. And why Harry is where he is, will be explained, you can be sure of that. I already know, but it is later in the story so you would have to wait to read it. Thanks for **Reviews**. I hope to see more.

**Szihuoko** – Welcome Singapore! Great to have you on board.

**Anave Lipad** – I have no idea how many, the chapters are rather short so there will be some. To answer your second question I will quote "all that magic must not go to waste". Stay and **Review** this chapter as well. Thanks.

**danix** – I'm sorry, you were saying? Thanks and remind me again.

**Bluie Twilight Star** – I think he doesn't want to be singled out again. He is a little afraid. He lost so many friends and he still doesn't know if this Riddle made any Hocrcux at all. And if he told about prophecy then he would have to explain about them. And this is rather obscure Dark Magic… you see where I'm heading. Great thanks for **Reviewing**. Keep it up.

**Althea** – Sure.

**Chez** – We'll see. I believe that eventually he will have to, or maybe…. Thanks for **Review**. Leave another one.

**Shadylion** – Thank you. I will, of course, try. **Review** again.

Huge Thank You to all of you. Keep **Reviewing** it really helps.

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Am I abusing the word **Review**? What do you think? Leave a **Review** and tell me.


	10. Chapter 10

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one with a dirty book._

Hermione pulled out her wand. Who could it be at this hour? It was usually peaceful in the Diagon Alley. But as everywhere, sometimes something happened. She, of course, knew about this Riddle character, after all he and his band of purist were trying to fight their dominance over muggleborns, other magical beings as well as muggles. Thankfully despite her commitments they had never attacked her directly. She was worried, however, when she had heard about the last attack. There were rumors that they were gaining power and that their leader, Tom Riddle, was becoming very powerful.

Before she decided to open the door, Hermione lifted the anti-apparation wards from her little foyer. She would apparate to the Ministry if someone attacked.

There was a knock again.

With a huff, the young witch opened the door and saw two, swaying figures, in front of her apartment. The one in front she recognize immediately.

"Mr. Black! What are you doing here!" She paused and sniffed the air, "Have you been drinking! What are you doing here!"

"Hello my love." Smiling Black slurred happily, "I've come to rescue you! Where is this excuse of a wizard who think he can claim my maiden!" He strode into the flat kissing shocked Hermione on her cheek.

She missed completely the look the other wizard was giving her when she recovered enough to turn and dashed after Sirius Black who was already looking into her fridge.

"I asked what are you doing here Mr. Black? You should be at home."

"My home is missing," he chuckled to himself. "Don't you have anything stronger than butterbeer?" He glanced at her from the kitchen seemingly unconcerned with her angry look.

"Err…, no. I asked…"

He walked to her and handed her a butterbeer. Two more were in his hand.

"You live in a bloody library," he scolded, "Did you read all of them?"

"Yes, I…, What..?" She was numb with shock.

Solve a riddle, write a very long and detailed essay, that was her thing. But deal with a drunken man, who acted like he owned everything around him, that was just to much. Hermione was never bold enough to do something reckless. She never attacked anyone, not that she didn't want to, like Mr. Black in that moment, but she never thought about herself as brave enough to do so. And now in front of this man she didn't do anything. Partly because she knew him enough and was confident that he wouldn't hurt her but partly because she just didn't know what to do.

He slumped heavily on her couch and with a mischievous glint in his eyes asked interrupting her again.

"Do you have any dirty books here as well?" He was scrutinizing her intensely.

"I..." Hermione couldn't help the blush, "I…, What are you doing here?" The question was asked for the tenth time.

Of course Sirius Black ignored her again.

"I'll be damned! I couldn't believe when he told me about all your adventures. But evidently you have it in you." He laughed.

Hermione was completely baffled. _Who? What adventures?_

"See, mate. She's alive and she has some naughty books in this library."

"Alive?" Hermione whispered confused. Black decided to answer this question immediately.

"Oh, He was just arguing with me that you were dead. I, of course, am always right, and you are alive and gorgeous." He flashed her one of his famous smiles that made every girl go weak in their knees.

But Hermione wasn't paying attention, she just remembered that there was someone else with Sirius Black. The only right solution for her was that the other person, still standing in the hall, was Mr. James Potter. And sure it was, however, his stance was very different from what she was used to, when meeting him in the Ministry. He was visibly drunk like Black, but somehow he emanated a warning to all those around him.

Hermione knew that Sirius Black, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Frank and Alice Longbottom and James Potter apart from Alastor Moody, were the best Aurors in Europe. She had never seen them in action but had heard from Remus that the pair Black and Potter were even more effective than the Longbottoms. A few times she was wondering how come the two, always laughing and joking people, that often visited Remus Lupin, could be anything but cheerful. But seeing Mr. Potter, she started to understand why he was one of the few that Riddle was supposed to be afraid of. But something was not right.

"Mr. Potter?" Hermione asked slowly. He looked the same but seemed somehow different. It wasn't the totally shocked expression on his face, although, that should worry her a lot.

"Are you alright, Mr. Potter?" He seemed immobilize with shock. Hermione saw that his eyes, extremely sad and full of pain, were foggy with tears. _Sad? Pain? Green?_

But that thought had never been finished because, with unbelievable speed, he had shortened the distance between them and engulfed her in a strong but surprisingly tender hug.

She didn't even had a chance to protest and managed only the quiet squeak.

"Oh, Merlin. Hermione, you are truly alive. I'm so sorry. I tried to get there on time. We've came as soon as we've got the tip that there was trouble. Oh, God. I' so sorry."

He broke completely, hugging her closely.

To say that she was speechless, would be a crime. She had never seen any man who would allow himself to cry that freely. Of course she didn't see many drunk wizards. But her intuition told her that his behavior wasn't due alcohol. He was acting like he knew her. Gone was the first impression of a intimidating Auror, in front of her was a man, he had willingly shown her his fears and weaknesses. In spite the bizarre situation, remembering her first impression, she felt honored by his trust.

But her mind was swirling a hundred miles per hour, something was very wrong there. First, she had never known Mr. Potter that well, sure he was always nice to her and she even visited Professor Potter once or twice, but to gain the level of familiarity to cry on her shoulder. _Impossible_. Second, he was still mumbling that he was sorry that she died and that he somehow didn't manage to save her. _Well, that never happened. A nightmare?_ Next, there was something strange with his eyes, she thought that James Potter's eyes were hazel, a little similar to Remus', if brighter. But here, she was sure that his eyes were green. And there was none of the laughter and mischievousness that she associated with the man. Only pain and sadness. They were so sad.

A gasp from her sofa made her look at Black. He was sitting with his mouth hanging open and a sudden realization on his face. He looked like someone who had just figured out how much trouble he had gotten himself into.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at him in a questioning manner. He was gaping at her and Mr. Potter and couldn't utter a sound.

Mr. Potter was mumbling about someone named Ron and how he loved them both, confusing her even more.

Suddenly something clicked inside her mind, and a part of a puzzle was solved.

_It wasn't James Potter! _

"Who are you?" she asked more sharply than she had intended, pushing him of her and rising her wand. Somehow she didn't feel endangered by the presence of this person, but the fact remained, she didn't know him.

"What do you mean? I'm Ha…" She saw that his confusion, quickly was replaced by shock. He stumbled back, probably not even noticing her raised wand, and looked around her flat, finally meeting Black's equally shocked expression.

He absently waved his hand behind himself and sat at conjured armchair, looking up at her. Hermione had noticed that he did magic without a wand.

"I…" he glanced at Black and asked, "Can we trust her?" He looked much more sober, and again emanated with power.

Looking at him, she discovered that he was younger than Black and Mr. Potter. She estimated that he was few years older than she. Maybe the same year that Skylar, maybe a year older. She scolded that he dismissed her and asked Black the question, but refrained from saying anything, still too confused.

"I think that we can. But we should tell Albus first, and ask his opinion." Sirius Black answered. He seemed more sober as well. Hermione suspected that shock and adrenaline had vanished some of the alcohol from their veins.

The man scolded and his expression hardened when Mr. Black had mentioned Albus Dumbledore. Hermione couldn't think the reason for that but it worried her slightly that someone would react like that to The Albus Dumbledore.

"I will decide what to do with the knowledge of my life." He said quietly but firmly. And she saw that Mr. Black blanched under his gaze.

Then he looked at her, his green eyes boring into hers, she felt that he was seeing directly through her. He was judging her soul. Hermione couldn't move, she couldn't even blink. How long that lasted she didn't know, it could be seconds, minutes, even days.

She felt that he had reached his decision, and that that decision would affect her life. In that moment she realized that her wish, from few hours earlier, would be granted, her life would be changed forever. She just wasn't sure she wanted that anymore.

"I will truthfully tell you who I am, and answer some of your questions, if you make a Wizard's Oath that you wouldn't tell anyone without my approval, what I am going to tell you." His eyes were still holding her in place, waiting.

Hermione knew that she should decline his offer and ask them to leave. But between the lines, she felt that he needed her, he was asking her for help and promising with new knowledge.

She nodded slowly.

"On my magic and my life." She didn't even registered that she had just promised to guard his secrets with her life.

His eyes winded slightly but he replied.

"By my magic." The magic rushed through her and she felt that the oath had been made.

The silence had stretched for a while until Sirius Black asked rather cheerfully.

"Well, I think that some good potion for us would be in order. Do you have anything, honey?" She shoot him a glare for calling her that but went to the kitchen to retrieve some potion. She had made them some time ago.

"It's few years old but it would have to do for now." She handed them two cups and waited for them to finish.

"I think that you should sit down. It will take some time." The Potter person waved his hand again and another armchair appeared in the room.

Nodding she sat and waited for him to continue.

After a short silence he said.

"My name is Harry James Potter and where I came from you were one of my best friends."

"What?" Hermione felt her mouth was hanging open.

"I happened here when I crossed the Veil in one of the Chambers in the Department of Mysteries."

After a moment of silence Hermione whispered with wide eyes.

"Parallel Universe."

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"I was a Gryffindor? And your parents were dead? And Dumbledore died? I saw earlier that you can do wandless magic. Did someone teach you? Could it be taught? I mean, there are so little references in the books about wandless magic. Of course, there was Merlin, and the Founders and some ancient Greeks, like Zeus or Hades, and Osiris or Isis. Most of them are thought to be gods in the eyes of muggles. I don't blame them they did ruled their lands after all."

Hermione knew that she was rambling, but so much knowledge, so much possibilities and the veil!

"What did you do when you were beyond the veil? Did you have to choose where to go? Where there some exits, like in the room or something? If so can you imagine what was the probability that you ended here? One to infinity. Maybe there is a way to communicate with other worlds? Here, it's called the Veil of Whispers. Those whispers might be the voices of people from the other worlds."

"Hermione." Harry said trying to gain her attention.

It was seven in the morning. Sirius had passed out about two, two and a half hours ago, when Harry was still talking about his world.

The potion was wearing off and he knew that in a short time the effects of his drinking would comeback. But he was sure that it was worth it. Hermione was different. It was hard to miss that she was so shy. His Hermione was very outgoing. But it looked like after few hours of talking his Hermione was somewhere inside. He was wondering what had happened here to prevent her from becoming who she could be. She looked different as well. More strict. He was wondering if this Hermione had ever broken any rule? _Probably not._

"Maybe we could..."

"Hermione!" he said more forcefully. "Mr. Flamel thinks that we shouldn't tell anyone about it," he raised his hand when she started to protest, "he said that the circumstances of me being here might be unique and that we should wait. For now I will be staying as James Potter's nephew. There are other things that I think I would like to talk to you about but maybe we could do it later today. Now, I think I need some sleep. And you probably should show yourself at work soon."

"Oh, my. Its past seven." She didn't feel tired but he visibly looked like someone who needed sleep. "You're right. When can we meet. I mean…" she blushed, she never was so forward with anyone. But in a twisted way he was her friend. Now he knew her better, but she would like to change that.

"Do you know when the Potters live? I don't know about the wards, but you could ask Remus or I could ask someone to bring you in?"

"Oh, no. That wont be necessary. I've been there to visit Professor Potter."

"Who?" Harry asked confused.

"Lily Potter, she teaches at Hogwarts."

"Ah, right." He paused and looked at drooling Sirius and laughed. "Well than, I better take him with me." He looked at her seriously, "Thank you. And I am sorry that we came like this. I just…" he sighed "I think I needed a friend and somehow… thanks."

"I am glad that I met you, Harry." Hermione said slowly. "It is nice to know that somewhere, even if in another world I had such a good friend."

Harry chuckled quietly.

"I think I'm to tired for your logic now, but I understand."

He stood up and walked to sleeping Sirius.

"See you tonight?"

"Tonight."

He grabbed his godfather by his arm and with a wave they vanished from her living room.

_How powerful this Harry Potter was, because her anti-apparation wards were lifted only from her small entrance hall._

It would be the first day of her life that Hermione Granger would be late for work. It would be the first day that she would spend her work thinking about her new-old friend, rather than doing anything else.

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AN:

I am really sorry for a long wait.

Thank you all for your **Reviews**, please keep doing it.

Welcome all new readers, Remember to leave a **Review**, as well.

How are your feelings about Harry – Hermione after this chapter? I wont tell for now if it will happen.

On my author's page there should be a part of the prophecy Tom Riddle had heard. What do you think about it?

I will address your questions in the next chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**You are the best, thanks for many Reviews for last chapter. **

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one with Grimmauld Place._

Harry groaned, squirming his eyes against the afternoon sun. Unfortunately the room he was staying in was on the west side of the house.

He moved to grab the pillow and covered his head but the loud thumbing on the door, brought him unmercifully back to awareness more than he would wish for.

He groaned again and mumbled into the pillow that he wanted to be left alone.

_Expired potions, what a great idea! _

His head hurt like hell, even his joints ached, although he did understand the reason for a headache, he couldn't find any explanation for the later. Not to mention the taste in his mouth. At the moment, Harry wasn't sure that the meeting with Hermione had been worth it, even if some part of him was extremely relieved that his friend wasn't dead. Maybe she was different, but it still was Hermione. He couldn't help feeling reassured, she was always good to talk to, and it made him somewhat pacified, maybe living in this world wouldn't be bad. Maybe he would finally have some peace.

Another series of loud 'THUDS' on the door, brought him back from his half-sleep state to harsh reality.

"I'm up!" He tried to yell but cringed at the loud sound.

"Are you decent?" A woman's voice asked.

"Yeah." Harry mumbled looking at himself, he was still wearing the clothes from yesterday.

The door opened and in walked Rose. She covered her nose and made a disgusted face.

"Bloody Hell. You're lucky that mum sent me and dad to wake you. She would flip if she saw you like this." She paused for a moment and then added. "You're even more lucky that dad is waking Sirius." At Harry's questioning look she added. "I can't use my wand out of school, yet."

He was still wondering what would be different if she had a wand, when a splash, loud shrill and a thud was heard from the direction of the shared bathroom, where the second bedroom had been located.

"What do you thing you're doing, James, You bloody wan…" A muffled voice of Sirius could be heard, followed by much more quieter "Ahh... my head." When he probably had realized that he was screaming.

"See." She smiled at him "mum wants you for lunch, it's already after two o'clock, in the afternoon. And dad said that Dumbledore asked to meet with you again. Something about documents."

She sat at the edge of the bed and shook his arm.

"Are you up. I said mum calls us for lunch."

"I'm up, I'm up." said Harry trying to uncover from the sheets he was mingled with.

"I'll be ready in a minute." He sat up, his head in his hands, the world spinning around painfully. "And I've promised myself I would never do that again." He mumbled to himself trying to stop the world from spinning.

After a short, yet very much needed shower and a new set of cloths, thanks to the courtesy of James Potter again, he was ready to face the world, more or less.

"I think you should refresh the room. If mum come here, I don't think she would be too impressed." Rose said suddenly when Harry declared that he was ready to go.

He looked at her a little embraced, "I think a don't remember any household spells."

"Oh, well, Could I use your wand then?" she asked.

"No wand, remember?" he showed her his empty hands.

"Right." Ross furrowed her brow, "I will ask dad or Sirius for wand. For now you can leave windows open." She started going to do just that.

Harry smiled at her and gestured for her to stop. With a casual wave of his other hand, the windows opened silently letting fresh air into the stuffed room.

"Wow, You have to teach me that." Rose said in awe. "Is it possible to learn or do you have to have some kind of special talent to do that?"

"As I said before it was a necessity. And I think it can be learnt, at least to some extend. My friends did learn wandless magic as well."

The fact that the level of easiness in which one could operate magic without the wand was way more dependent on the level of power than ability. However, Rose didn't need to know that.

"And you are a Potter, aren't you?" Harry smiled at her proudly, "I am sure you can learn."

The thought of teaching, _his sister_, was very appealing and made him feel warm inside. _Maybe being here indeed will be good._

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They reached the kitchen few minutes later, the wonderful smells attacked their senses some time earlier when their were descending the stairs.

The kitchen was rather huge, combined with a dining place near the enormous window. The view was breathtaking, the house was in some kind of a meadow, surrounded with a forest on one side and what look like a sea or ocean on the other. Harry didn't notice that yesterday. He didn't know that Godric's Hollow stood by the sea. He wasn't sure anymore that this was Godric's Hollow.

His mother was finishing lunch when they walked in.

"Rose, honey, prepare the table. Hello Harry, sit down, James and Sirius will be here in a moment."

"Hello…" somehow he stopped with just that. Harry desperately wanted to call her, mum, but the word had stuck in his throat. _Maybe not yet_, he thought sadly.

Lily must had noticed because she stopped what she was doing and walked up to him.

"You can call me Lily," she smiled at his disappointed expression, "for now." Lily added after a moment, her eyes a little misty. "But I expect you to call me mum, soon."

She embraced him into a hug only mother could give.

"Thanks." Harry breathed into her hair, using his occlumancy training to stop himself from crying.

Suppressing positive emotions was always many times harder than any others. At least for Harry.

"I'll help with the table." He said more cheerfully.

After a while James came into the kitchen with Sirius dragging himself after his friend. Lily took pity on them and gave Harry and Sirius two vials of stemming potion.

"How many times did I tell you not to overdo alcohol. And you are dragging poor Harry with you."

Rose snored into her food and Harry quickly drunk his potion thankful that the attention was directed to someone else.

Sirius however, only grinned at her and with a silent "Cheers," drunk his dose.

"Oh, Lily, I didn't dragged Harry anywhere he didn't want to go, right mate?"

Harry groaned, bracing himself for the teasing that would probably come. But James interrupted saving him for the moment.

"Leave a man alone," he smiled at Harry kindly, Harry smiled back and relaxed a little.

"You're making him blush like a girl." James finish with a glint in his eyes. Rose and Lily tried to stiffen their smiles, because Harry actually was starting to blush.

After a few more accurate comments from her husband Lily interrupted James. "Oh, stop it. Lets eat."

For the first few minutes only sounds in the room were of the knifes and forks connecting the plates, but after some time conversation begun again.

"Remus called earlier today," Lily said, "he will be coming later, after work."

"Well I know, I've asked him when we were laving Dumbledore." James answered taking a sip of the wine.

"Yes, but he said that he will bring Hermione Granger. I didn't know that they were dating, I didn't remember Remus dating anyone for some time and as far as I know, Hermione was engaged to someone from the Ministry, some guy named Michael Skinner, or something."

Sirius and James had burst laughing, "It's Skylar Mitchel, Lils," said James when he got control over himself, "he's from Cooperation."

"And he is a stiff git" muttered Sirius under his breath.

"Yeah, and he is a stiff git." James added aloud with a laugh.

Harry thought about Hermione, he remembered when she said about being engaged. At first he had thought that maybe she was engage to Ron, but she mentioned this man Skylar. Somehow Harry didn't like the man from the start. He didn't remember the bloke from his world, and he had met and shook hands with all of the people who had followed him, at least once. It was Aberforth's and Hermione's idea that he needed to know the men he would lead.

The fact that his father and Sirius didn't like him made Harry feel rather pleased.

"…rry. Harry!"

He was jerked back from his musings by the voice of his mother.

"Huh?"

"I asked if it is true that it was you who had asked Hermione to come?"

He looked around everyone was looking at him with curious expression. Everyone apart from Sirius who was finishing his meal, ignoring everyone else.

"Yes, we went to her apartment and I talked to her."

"Don't you think that you should ask Dumbledore before telling anyone about yourself?"

Surprisingly it was Lily who said that in a rather harsh tone. Harry thought it would be James or maybe Remus, if he was there, but not his mum. He sighed inwardly, he had hoped that he had made his point clear with Dumbledore.

The atmosphere in the kitchen tensed, in an instant gone was a young man, laughing and being teased. In his place there sat the dangerous and powerful wizard, the one James and Sirius saw in the Department of Mysteries and later the rest of them in the Hospital Wing.

"I think it is my decision, and my only, who I choose to tell about me. You can trust Hermione." He said in a quiet but cold and demanding voice.

"But what if she…"

"She" Harry interrupted his mum and looked at her. But when he did so he had noticed her worried eyes. And then he understood. They didn't question his decision, they didn't think he wasn't capable of making a right one. They were just worried about him.

He looked at the similar expression in the eyes of his sister and a troubled look of James, and took a deep breath, loosing some of his coldness.

They were worried because they cared.

"Look," he said in a much warmer voice, "as I've already told you, there were a lot of people in my life that tried to manipulate me, into one thing or another. No matter if their intentions were good or not. I had to grow up pretty fast and I became very cautious of how to live my life."

Harry paused to gather his thoughts, he didn't want to offend them but they would have to understand.

"I think, I know why you reacted the way you did," he smiled at Lily reassuringly, "And I really appreciate your concern, but I wouldn't survive last six years if I allowed someone to dictate me how to live and who to trust. When I said that you could trust Hermione I meant it. I trust her. She wont tell anyone."

Seeing that they were still a little concerned Harry sighed again and said simply, "She made the Oath."

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The visit with Dumbledore went well. Harry had informed him that he had told Hermione about himself and was pleasantly surprised when the man didn't frown at him for that. He had asked Harry to be cautious and that he would appreciate if he could be informed who would be told. Harry had agreed to the request. He was wondering what had changed, but didn't ask.

Rest of the day he had spent with Rose and Lily and then with Hermione and Remus, as well, asking them about the wizarding world. James and Sirius had also joined them later.

As it turned out this wizarding world was much more tolerant about other beings. Remus was a Head of the Magical Being's Department and it seemed they had a lot more rights, making them equal to people in many aspects. There was, however, a strong opposition in the form of Malfoy and some other old Pureblood families, like Blacks.

Aparently, apart from Sirius, Regulus Black lived. Harry wasn't sure what to think about that. They didn't trust him but they were still on a speaking terms with him, as well as, with Bellatrix Black.

She, on the other hand, had never married into the Lestrange family and was a quite good friends with Sirius and Andromeda and was sometimes a mediator in the family. This was probably most surprising fact Harry had learned, and a very hard to accept.

In his world she was within the three people he hated most apart from Voldemort. Bellatrix Lestrange, Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew.

Here they had stopped meeting with Pettigrew after school, and when he became a head of his house and backed up Malfoys in the Wizengamot, they publicly became enemies.

But unfortunately, in Harry's opinion, Severus Snape was still a Potion Master and fortunately a most hated person by the old Marauders. With the last one, Harry had readily joined with the Marauders to the displeasure of Lily and Hermione.

In Harry's opinion Snivellus was the worst of the three, he was even more Slytherin than Voldemort himself. In Harry's world, Snape had tried, and almost succeeded in convincing everyone that he was working on Dumbledore's orders, that Dumbledore was dying and had asked him, had ordered him, to interfere when there was a possibility to save someone. He had said that Dumbledore pleaded with him to save Malfoy's soul. He had even passed the veritaserum test. It was dumb luck, that Harry, after some training, had started experiment with his link with Voldemort, and happened to whiteness his meeting with Riddle. Much later, it turned out that Severus Snape, was loyal only to himself, and in everything he did, his interest was first and foremost.

Ironically it was Severus Snape and the way he had stopped and humiliated Harry at the end of Harry's sixth year, had opened Harry's eyes. He realized how much he had needed to learn to have at least a slight chance in the real world. His Patronus, in his third year, was nothing compared to the knowledge and power that he had had to have to end the war.

But as Aberforth had said "_You have to start somewhere, and this mark_" he had tapped Harry on his forehead "_is a better start than any._"

_Yes, Severus Snape, is a true Slytherin_. Thought Harry grimly, he wouldn't let him know where he came from and more especially, what he had to do there.

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Many hours later, when Hermione had gone home with an eager promise of another meeting and that Harry could borrow some of her historic books and when Remus was leaving as well, Harry had noticed that Sirius had decided to stay again.

Before he could ask why, Rose did. "Why are you staying here?"

Sirius looked affronted "Don't you like it when I stay? I thought I was your favorite uncle?"

"You never stay, you usually just come for breakfast. But I don't remember you actually staying here, other than when you are too drunk to apparate or to floo."

"Hey!" he said but then he looked around at the others and than hesitantly at Harry. He shrugged coming to some kind of a decision. "Well my house vanished."

"What?" Harry asked astounded. "What about Regulus? Where does he stay?"

"Oh, he has a castle in Wales."

"I thought that The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was in London?"

"Do you think that the Blacks would lower themselves to live with the plebs in a city." he snorted.

But other adults were looking at Harry strangely.

"How do you know where Sirius' house is?" James asked slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the Headquarter is under the Fidelius Charm, Dumbledore is supposed to be a Secret Keeper."

"So?" Harry asked into the silence.

Then Remus' eyes winded in surprise and he started laughing.

"What Moony!?" Irritated James asked, he knew that Remus had figured it out.

Then Lily said "Oh my..., wow."

"Could you please tell us normal people what you know?" Sirius had said patiently. This must had been a normal occurrence in the group.

"You were a Secret Keeper of the place in your world, right?" Remus asked eagerly.

"Yes." Harry answered guessing that he was talking about Grimmauld Place.

"Wow," Lily whispered again.

"Yeah wow," said Remus, "I think that when you came to our world, you somehow overpowered Albus' as a Secret Keeper. Incredible." He breathed, his academic mind way ahead in front of everyone, Lily's probably right next to him.

"Does he mean that you know where I live?" Sirius asked stupidly.

James eyes winded when he understood the meaning of all of that. They had just got the real proof that Harry was more powerful than Dumbledore. Not knowledge and its use in some areas of live power, but the level of raw power.

"Well," Harry said, "if I am correct, you are living at 12 Grimmauld Place… London."

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AN:

Next chapter, next bunch of **Reviews**, please.

I know that the chapter is slow, but some things had to be said.

**Thanks** for all your **Reviews**. I am extremely pleased with myself. You make me blush so much that it might stay permanent. Oh, and so you know, I don't mind.

That said, one last request; **REVIEW**.

Again **thanks** to our new readers for **Reviewing**.


	12. Chapter 12

Some needed info...

1) Harry traveled to the alternate dimension – his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel and the Longbottoms are alive, he has a sixteen year old sister Rose

2) Tom Riddle was in Azkaban, caught when he had opened the Chamber of Secrets – he escaped and murdered Harry from this world in 1981 – since that time he is on the run, terrorizing wizarding world, but on the much lesser scale – he and a few of his followers are like terrorists, forcing their pure-blooded ideas.

3) Harry told Hermione about himself – she was in Ravenclaw, works for the Ministry – fights for the nonhuman rights and is engage to someone named Skylar.

4) And lastly at the end of the last chapter it turned out that Harry, by his mere existence in this world, overpowered Dumbledore as a Secret Keeper for the Order Headquarter. He was one in his old world.

And on to the story...

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one where we should forgive the author._

The revelation left the Potters and friends shocked - to say the least - and awed at the realization of Harry's magical prowess.

Despite the late hour, they had decided to go to Hogwarts immediately.

Sirius and James took the information in strides and thought it great joke, probably the best prank played on Dumbledore. Thanks to Lily and Remus, the idea to taunt the Headmaster had been shot down before it could take any shape.

It turned out that Dumbledore had assigned half of the Order to search for the lost headquarter.

The Headmaster was up, no big surprise there, and was looking through some reports from the search.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. Everybody would be if a merry band of former pranksters burst into his office through the fireplace.

From the looks people were giving him, Harry determined that they had never seen Albus Dumbledore speechless - maybe except Nicholas Flamel – when he heard the news. But the older wizard didn't look much better.

After some discussion they had decided that Harry would leave few notes with the address for Dumbledore's use. It happened that the Headmaster was quite happy with the news, he was a secret keeper for some other location.

Sirius was first to check if the house was where it supposed to be and chose to stay there, the Potters and Remus left shortly after the information had been confirmed.

Harry felt content after the meeting, Albus Dumbledore seemed to accept him, and despite any facade Harry could put, it meant a lot.

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Lucius Malfoy was a very well known wizard.

He was very powerful, but his power was based on the influence his family held in the Wizarding World. He was a pureblood, of course, and fought very hard to maintain his control of at least some parts of the heritage.

He became involved with Tom Riddle early, after said man had escaped Azkaban. How did he do that, no one knew.

The dark wizard was an old friend of Lucius' father, from their years at Hogwarts, and his old man had greeted him as such when Tom Riddle, haggard and hungry, had appeared on the steps of the Malfoys ancestry manor.

Lucius had always supported his father and never questioned him openly. However, he was surprised when his father treated the wizard with such honor. It was against everything he, a Malfoy, had been taught - he sneered - more so, when he had learned that Tom Riddle was a halfblood.

Malfoy gulped the rest of the wine from his glass and shattered the remains against the wall. A small disgusting creature appeared immediately and started cleaning the floor.

Looking with loathing at the elf he continued with his thoughts - His father had been dead for many years, and after a time, he himself began appreciating the power Tom Riddle wielded. Mentally he seemed unharmed from his long stay with the Dementors, what shocked Lucius more, he even had managed to acquire some books and study there, in Azkaban!

The fact that he was so willing to manifest his views in the Wizarding World and did so for twenty years by then, was also a big bonus.

He knew that magically he wasn't a match for Tom Riddle, he knew that the list of those that could fight him off, diminished with time, and that there were only a handful of those left, but he had managed to steer him in directions he wanted, and control him through money, rare, ancient, dark books and magical items, or other luxuries he had been providing for years.

He smirked to himself and kicked the little creature on his way to get another glass. He was the one in power.

He was controlling the situation - till recently at least – the angry thought mocked him.

Few months ago something had changed.

Years ago, he had heard from his father, about the title Lord Voldemort. Tom Riddle had started referring about himself like that recently.

Add to it, Tom's obsession to find Dumbledore's brother house, strayed Lucius from his own plans. They observed the old man. His pub in Hogsmade, but nothing was known about his place of residence. There was little known about the man himself.

And that last attack Riddle's group had performed. Lucius wasn't informed about that. He would have to have a world with Tom when the wizard shows up.

He looked at his pocket watch and frowned, the wizard was late. He should have shown up at least half an hour ago. Riddle was getting more arrogant every time they met – Lucius would have to put him in place.

A sudden noise from the hall confirmed that someone was coming.

Malfoy straightened his elegant robes, took his cane/wand and plastered his sneer firmly on his face. He would have to intimidate the other wizard.

The doors blasted open and an imposing figure of a tall, dark haired man walked gracefully into the Malfoys' study.

"You're late Tom…" he didn't manage to say anything else.

"Crucio," was the only thing said by the wizard. He said it in such a casual way like any other would say 'good morning', but the effects were totally different.

Lucius Malfoy was screaming and wriggling on the floor. His ancestry, dignity and famous sneer lost to the pain of one of the Unforgivables.

"I told you, that name no longer applies to me." Tom Riddle said casually, watching the other man on the floor. His dark eyes flickered with red flames in them. "I need to perform only one more ritual." He muttered to himself.

"To you, Lucius," after a few minutes he had lifted the curse and looked at the sniveling form on the floor, "I am Lord Voldemort." There was a maniacal glint in the wizard's gray eyes.

Lucius Malfoy, the proud Head of the Malfoy family, his robes soaked in sweat and urine, only managed to mumble something incoherently.

"You are going to serve me, Lucius." The dark wizard informed. He put the curse back on the wizard lying on the floor. "Do you understand?"

Voldemort knew how long he could torture someone not to destroy the victim's mind.

"Y-yes, To... my Lord." This was nothing like he had imagined it. He should be the one in power, but right now he wanted the pain to stop. He wanted it stopped more than anything.

"Give me your arm Lucius, You will be my first."

He grabbed the other wizard's wrist, pulled his sleeve high, touched his bare arm with the wand and with that maniacal gleam again, muttered.

"Morsmordre."

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Harry spent the night sleeping peacefully. He didn't know if it was due the fact that he didn't feel his connection with Voldemort anymore or that he was starting to believe that staying in this place might be good. Maybe it was the knowledge that he had one of his best friends back, or some excitement he had begun feeling, knowing that he would go to Diagon Alley to buy a new wand, hopefully his old one. Nevertheless, he woke up rested and ready to face the world.

As soon as he ate breakfast they had shooed him out. No one battered an eye when he said that he would like to go alone. They seemed happy he had asked. He was pretty sure he knew why they all stayed behind.

Not that Harry minded, after all, it was his idea. He didn't remember how Sirius and he had managed to find Hermione and was sure that he would have great difficulty to find her on his own.

He decided to floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

The pub looked the same. Dark and glum, but the atmosphere was lighter than he was used to. Few serving people were milling around, taking orders and delivering food and drinks.

Harry made his way to the back of the pub, through the brick wall and onto his first trip to the Diagon Alley in years.

What he saw took his breath away, the Alley looked… amazing. His senses overwhelmed for a minute. Hundreds of people milling around, Gringotts shining in the distance, Harry got the impression that the wizarding shopping district looked bigger than he had remembered. There were so many people and they all seemed to fit in perfectly.

They didn't have the experience from Voldemort's rising - he was just some dark wizard with a small group of followers. On the other hand the Order existed and fought him since he had escaped from Azkaban. But their years of fighting were not the same. This Tom Riddle had spent sixty years in Azkaban with no means to develop his powers to the extend that The Tom Riddle Harry had fought.

_No, this Riddle had no time to quietly build his empire_.

_But what of the Horuxces, did he manage to create at least one?_

Harry banished those dark thoughts. He was here to enjoy the beautiful day and look at the world where fear was not the driving force in the society.

He was here to try and get his wand back. That was a cheering thought.

Harry opened the old shop, the bell rung announcing a customer.

The shop looked just like he had remembered. Many piles of old wand-boxes were lying on shelves, on the floor and in many other various places.

The shop was eerie quiet, enormous contrast to the bustling street outside.

Harry scanned the shop discreetly and smirked inwardly.

_So, that's how he always does it._

The old wizard was standing, disillusioned, near the entrance to his workroom. Later, Harry would wonder if this was funny or stupid on his part, but at the moment he felt very cocky, after all he just found out that he had family and friends he thought he had lost, and even more. Life was looking good.

He locked eyes with the wizard, who was apparently waiting when his customers would turn around before appearing and scaring the daylight out of them.

"Good morning. Mister Ollivander, I presume? I hope I don't interrupt in anything important." Harry almost chuckled when the aura around the older wizard shifted to great disappointment but then stirred in curiosity. Harry probably cut the man from his only joy in life.

But he was worried about the curiosity of the other wizard. He had once talked with Aberfoot about the wandmaker and the younger Dumbledore told him that Olivander was already there when Albus and he were buying their wands. And Flamel was supposed to be his good friend as well. _Maybe the old alchemist wasn't the only one who had created the Philosopher Stone. If that were true and Olivander did create the Stone, could it be possible that he survived Voldemort, hiding somewhere, and would be back to provide his wands for the future generation of witches and wizards. _They were nice thoughts but Harry squashed them and focused on the old wizard who just dropped the spell he was hiding under.

"Mr. Potter." He said slowly, looking intensely at Harry with his unnerving eyes. "I didn't know there was another Heir left."

Harry schooled his face to a pleasant smile, despite the slight nervousness his thoughts had stirred in him.

"I just came to the country. I broke my last wand during the bad apparating."

_Legilimens_, Harry discovered when the old wizard was fishing for a lie. _An accomplished one_. The probe was very subtle, but not enough for Harry not to recognize what it was. He decided to let the man enter his surface thoughts and hastily created some false memories of him stumbling and crashing on his wand in some sandy, hot desert.

Fortunately his skills were enough. The wandmaker's aura shifted to scolding disappointment and he asked in his usual, creepy way.

"Wand hand?" Harry let out a small breath of relief.

"I believe right is the most suited." Well, Harry was using both hands, but his right was his initial wand hand. He decided some things should stay as they were.

The magical tape started measuring him. He wondered briefly how the change in his body, as he was a grown up, would relate to the measurements he had had when he was eleven.

Another shift in the wizard's aura woke Harry from his thoughts. To Harry's surprise it brought a great deal of disappointment, but under it there was that curiosity again. He decided to tread carefully there.

"Is something wrong, Mr. Olivander?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, nothing's wrong…" The old wizard answered looking around the shop, lost in his thoughts. He looked at Harry after a few moments and said.

"You're pretty good with spell casting."

"I've got some experience." Harry replied hesitantly. "What do you mean?"

The man sighted, "I believe it's good than. What kind of wand would you prefer?"

"Huh?" Harry asked intelligently, "I thought you are here to decide what the best choice is."

"Usually that is the case, Mister Potter." His disappointment fading from his aura. "Maybe it's for the better." He said quietly, Harry had hardly heard him. After a while the wizard continued in a normal voice.

"In the old days Mister Potter, the more prominent spell casters didn't need a wand and used it mostly in rituals and ceremonial casting. Those wands were specially made for those witches and wizards. Normal, common wands, you can see in my shop, were used by rest of the wizarding populace." He looked thoughtfully around the shop again.

"Those few witches and wizards could pick any wand they wanted and use it with equal proficiency as any other caster." He looked at Harry again.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any of those special wands. Well, they were custom made after all."

"I believe you are one of those prominent spell casters Mister Potter. In my opinion you could choose any wand in my shop and it will work for you just fine."

He looked closely at Harry again. "I wonder…"

Harry glanced around the shop, thinking about his holly, phoenix wand. Those prominent spell casters must be simply those who could do wandless magic. But what about all that 'wand chooses the wizard' nonsense. "In that case, do you have a holly wand with a phoenix feather as a core? The feather from Dumbledore's phoenix maybe?" Harry wasn't looking at the old wandmaker when he asked that, but the silence that met his question forced him to look at the man.

"Phoenix feather and a holly wood?" Muttered old wizard, now obviously starring at Harry. "Interesting combination… How do you know I was trying to get Albus to give me a feather from his magnificent, new Phoenix?" he asked in a rather sharp tone.

"New Phoenix?" Now it was Harry's curiosity that perked up.

_Could it be?_

"As far as I can tell, his familiar came to him five or six years ago. Didn't you heard about it? It is quite rare for the phoenixes to choose their wizards." He looked strangely at Harry.

"It was even brought up to discussion at the International Confederation of Wizards, because some of those who study the Phoenixes argued that this one was not young and to their knowledge only young ones bond to humans. And, of course, phoenixes breed very rarely."

The silence fell between two wizards for a few minutes. They both lost in their own thoughts and pondering their own questions. Albeit of a totally different matters.

_Was it possible that Dumbledore's Phoenix was actually Faweks, but what about Riddle, he had one of Faweks' feathers as a core in his wand. Just like Harry's._ _Where did the differences start?_ _It might be decades. _

"Well," Harry said suddenly, "I think, you could give me any wand.., for now." He looked around again. "You could give me one that hasn't been in use for many years, so that no one will miss it."

Mr. Olivander frowned at the casual way the other wizard spoke, but Harry continued before the old wandmaker could voice his disapproval.

"What would you say if I try to get Mr. Dumbledore and his Phoenix to share a feather for my wand?" He said with twinkling eyes. He was happy and hopeful that he might get a chance to meet someone from his old world, someone he knew. Even if it wasn't human.

"Do you think he would agree?" The wizard's voice was laced with hope.

"I believe it is possible." Harry said smiling.

xxxxxxxxxx

Harry walked out of the shop holding his, hopefully temporary, cherry wood dragon heartstring wand. Even if he didn't feel particularly connected to it, it was a wand, and he wouldn't be gawked at when performing magic wandlessly.

He was strolling aimlessly through the alley, till he spotted the Ice Cream Parlor and decided to eat something before continuing his wander.

All the evidence pointed that Fawkes had come here when his Dumbledore died. Maybe phoenixes existed only once in all the dimensions. Nevertheless, he would meet his old friend.

He had bought the chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts and moved to the outside benches. People were hurrying around, doing their business.

Harry stayed standing, basking in their careless attitude. It wasn't perfect, but compared to what he was used to… He couldn't remember when was the last time he saw a group of people without their wands drawn. His thoughts wondered freely enjoying himself tremendously.

And then he saw it.

A flash from the past. A phantom from his dreams.

Vibrant, young woman walked out from one of the shops. She was short, with an energetic spark to her walk.

Just like he remembered.

Her red hair glistering in the sun of a beautiful day.

The world stilled, his breath caught.

Harry stumbled backward and sat with a thud on something.

_She's alive_… _Ginny_…

_Maybe…_

Hope started spreading through him. The air suddenly seemed fresher, the sun brighter.

He starred in wonder as she walked to someone and handed him her bags to shrink.

_She's older…, …but so am I._

And then the world stopped again. Harry's shoulders slumped when the reality hit him and the bubble burst, leaving Harry with the rotten smell of life. His life.

The young woman stood on the tip of her toes and the man bend slightly.

They kissed.

Not like friends.

Harry starred at the couple as the fingers of their hands intertwined and they moved slowly down the alley.

"Old girlfriend?" Asked a voice from his left.

_Old girlfriend?_ Echoed Harry's thoughts. He couldn't tear his eyes from their hands. The kiss played through his mind over and over again.

"Past dream." He thought and said at the same time. He knew that he shouldn't hope. Hermione was different. He didn't even meet Ron. His Sirius didn't come here at all. But hoped he did. _Ginny…_

"I'm sorry it didn't work out." The voice said again.

_It didn't work out._ His mind unconsciously repeated the voice's words.

_She met Harry's gaze with the same hard, blazing look that he had seen when she had hugged him after winning the Quidditch Cup in his absence, and he knew that at that moment they understood each other perfectly, and that when he told her what he was going to do now, she would not say 'Be careful', or 'Don't do it', but accept his decision, because she would not have expected anything less of him.… _

…_'Ginny, listen...' … 'I can't be involved with you any more. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together.' …_

„I let go probably the best thing that had happened in my life." He said sadly.

…_Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you.'…_

"And he got to her…" He sighed sadly. "I've got my chance and sent her away." He whispered in a wistful voice. "And we grew apart."

"I presume you didn't see her for a while."

"Yeah… for a while." _But she's alright, she seemed happy._

Harry froze suddenly. _He had just talked to someone. He had almost…_

He straightened his shoulders, gripped his wand tightly and looked at the person to his left, where the voice came from.

"Who are you?" his voice sounded rather harsh, but only Harry knew it was laced with fear.

The woman sitting next to him looked vaguely familiar. Her thick, black hair with just a trace of red in them were framing her long face. She had deep, gray eyes with a hint of mischief hiding just around the corner. Though, they were definitely different from the mischievous glint he saw in Sirius' or James' eyes, they were without doubt familiar. Her not too small, crocked nose was probably the first thing to notice, but it highlighted her high cheekbones, estimably. In an exotic way she was beautiful. Definitely the face you would notice among many others, to admire or dislike. A perfect face to carve in stone.

Despite the fact that Harry was flooded with difficult emotions about Ginny, astound and a little frightened that only few peaceful days would lower his defenses to the point that he could be tricked into giving out some information, a part of his mind, a male part, couldn't help but appreciate this woman.

She observed him curiously, with her head crocked to the side. Her eyes sparkled behind long lashes.

"Ah… but you have some good memories at least." She said a bit wistfully, smiling at him sadly she continued, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."

She extended her slim hand to him expectantly.

"I'm Amabel."

"Harry Potter." Harry said shaking her hand. He didn't thought it important but he'd noticed that she didn't say her last name.

"Potter?" She asked looking at him curiously.

"I just came here. And yes, related to James and Lily Potter" He smiled. It was good to introduce himself and don't have to experience the gawking his name usually promised, just the normal interest.

Harry looked around his thoughts turning to Ginny again, but unfortunately or fortunately he didn't see her again among the crowds around the Alley. He sighted loudly but didn't know if it was in relief or disappointment.

After a moment he remembered that he was still holding the woman's hand.

Harry tried to remember what he had said and how to change the subject.

"Er, I think it wasn't my friend," he started awkwardly, "just someone who resemble her."

"Oh, Okay." She didn't seem convinced but thankfully dropped the subject.

"You've lost your ice cream." She pointed to a puddle of melted food.

"Oh, damn." Harry took his new wand, holding it between his hands. He examined the flow of magic leaving from one hand through the wand to the other. His first wand since he lost his own. He would have to remember to limit himself to using the wand in public – he didn't need to add more rumors to those his appearance would probably stir.

"Mr. Potter, are you okay?"

He got startled again – that was not good.

"It's Harry," he smiled at the woman, Amabel, "and I'm alright, just a new wand." He waved said wand vanishing his ruined snack. Looking around the street, in unconscious hopes to glimpse his lost love again, Harry hesitated, what to do next. It certainly was easier to command rather than to entertain.

"Well..." The problem was he didn't know if he wanted to go or stay and talk to the woman. Sure he had planned to find Hermione's flat again – somewhere on the first floor, and in the Diagon Alley district – but she would be at job and would visit the Potters latter anyway. The Weasleys were out of the question, at least for a time being. Remus was working at the Ministry – good for him. He couldn't just pop at Neville's – if he lived at the same place, and seeing Tonks again would be great – but in reality he didn't know these people, he didn't know this Ginny – he remembered sadly – and back in his old world his love diminished even before the girl he had hoped to love died.

_...neither can live while the other survived..._ Oh, how he hoped that he had fulfilled this blasted prophecy. _I am not marked by this Tom Riddle_ - Harry pleaded silently - _and he is not Voldemort. Nobody is chasing to kill you Harry, you can live._

"I'm going to eat some lunch, would you like to join me?" Her voice startled Harry for the third time that day.

"I was just thinking how to ask you to lunch." Harry smiled at her.

"O really?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Is that your line, Harry?" She was obviously testing the sound of his name.

"When you know me better, you'll probably realize that this was my best picking line ever." Harry laughed.

"I shouldn't be worry then." She said with a strait face. But broke down laughing at Harry's mock scowl. "Let's go then, I'm starving."

_You can live Harry._

xxxxxxxxxx

AN – Don't shoot. Please. I'm innocent. It was him, he did it.

I'm sorry for the looong wait, I am also sorry for ignoring your lovely REVIEWS.

Great **THANK YOU** for the REVIEWS.

I will respond eventually, there is this new feature to create forum, so maybe if you would really like I can create one and respond there. My old responses were on my disk and since the last update I had to format my comp trice. Not much left there unfortunately.

About the story – I think that we touched something with this chapter. Tell me how believable Harry was – compared to earlier chapters, if you remember.

If you find anything that annoys you to the point that I should change it immediately, don't be shy and tell me – I'll trust your knowledge and correct the mistakes.

I'm going to send the thing to beta eventually. Big thank you to all of you who had offered. But right now my life is still somehow destined to meet few points after which it will be possible for me to write more. For now my updates will be erratic.

I will only ask once this time – maybe twice – **REVIEW PLEASE**.


	13. Chapter 13

**The End Or The Beginning?**

_The one where life goes on._

The meal was delicious. Harry wasn't sure if it was because of the quality of the food or the company. But the latter seemed to be more probable.

It was strange that he had never met Amabel in his world – especially since she radiated with magic on a very high level.

_She surly would have been spotted during the war._

He reasoned that she had died before they had any chance to meet or she had never been born in the first place.

That thought brought him to one of the reasons why he had decided to wander into the Diagon Alley. _Where, or more accurate when did the differences between the Worlds start?_

"It doesn't bode well, does it?" She asked bringing him back to the present.

"Huh, what does?"

"My thoughts exactly." Despite the sad tone, Harry could clearly see some humor in her eyes. Although, there was a sense of uncertainty underneath.

"Ok..." Harry said slowly, "I think you lost me..."

"That's right." She said with a solemn nod. "You spent..." she looked at the wall of the pub where an old clock hung, "...an hour with me and you're already loosing interest."

Ignoring Harry's "Hey" of protest she continued.

"I know we didn't talk about ourselves much. I mean actual facts about us, but some stories we've shared seemed interesting enough." She sighed with an exaggerated sadness. "I understand, you're just not interested." She looked him in the eyes, "Are you sure you were pinning after the girl, back there in the Alley? You don't have to pretend with me. I'm open minded, I'll still think you're a nice guy, even if you're gay, Harry."

Her eyes never wavered from his, but there was an ocean of mirth in them now.

Harry's mind reeled. For a fraction of second he felt a pang in his heart thinking about Ginny, but an instant later his jaw hit the table at the rest of what she had said. He was just recovering when she hit him hard.

"On the other hand, I wouldn't have to worry about your intentions and never have to concern myself when undressing, I mean changing," she amended quickly, "in front of you." And than she flashed him a radiant smile.

Harry snorted. "Merlin's beard!" he exclaimed. "Woman, give a block a chance."

She fluttered her eyes at him still smiling.

"You're a blunt one." He laughed. "Now listen because a have an explanation."

"Oh?" Eyebrows raised, her voice was was sweet and innocent.

"Yes, oh." He said his brow knitted and he caught her with an intensive look. "And it's a good one."

"Okay."

He mock scowled. "Yes, well. Just before you so rudely interrupted me I was thinking that this is the most pleasant time I've spent in a long time." He smiled at her gently, all joking aside.

"I really mean it." And he really did.

Amabel looked him deeply in the eyes, the mirth seeping from hers, taking that grain of uncertainty with it. All that left was a satisfaction and something else, something warm he was sure he should recognize.

"Me too." She said softly.

They sat, quietly looking at each other, lost in their own thoughts.

Harry was astonished with himself. Talking that way with a girl, a woman – he corrected – should left him speechless, not to mention red as tomato or white as ghost. His thoughts turned to Tonks, no matter how much he had liked her and her exuberant personality she could turn him into a embarrassed blurbing fool with a word and a wink. Here, he was flirting shamelessly with a woman he had met over an hour ago, enjoying himself and having fun. This was something new.

"Am I forgiven?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Well..." She paused "You didn't address the other part of the problem." She said the humor back in the full force. "I meant revelation."

Harry almost chocked on his butterbeer. "Now," he paused, "you put me in a difficult position. Being a gentleman I am." He scowled at her quiet snort. "I should assure you that you have nothing to worry from me. On the other hand being with a beautiful woman, not necessary dressed, might dent my gentlemanly upbringing." He finished with a wicked smile.

But inside, he was frozen socked at his daring. It was totally not like himself. He quietly checked his Occlumancy, he checked if he could be under any potion or spell. Of course he found nothing, and he would not found anything if he was poisoned, spells – maybe, potions – no.

He knew that he started blushing slightly and he knew that what he had said had some effect on her as well because she blushed herself a little.

And again something different happened, something he thought shouldn't be possible between man and woman having a conversation they just had.

"I was too forward, wasn't I? It was too embarrassing?" He asked, astonished that he could ask something like that and at the same time curious that it felt totally natural to talk like that.

"Well, I've asked for it." She smiled and any shadow of awkwardness vanished between them.

In Harry's opinion people didn't interact that way, especially people who had just met. Nevertheless, he felt totally at easy, astonishingly so, that it should bring some alarm to the forth of his mind, but it didn't. He liked her, he knew that she had some secrets she didn't want to talk about, it was obvious from the way they were talking during lunch, and he respected that. She knew that he had secrets of his own and never grilled him for answers to questions he choose to ignore.

"We have to repeat that date." Harry blurted suddenly.

"So that's a date?" Amabel smiled.

Harry raised his eyebrows and shrug in affirmative.

"I'm not used to asking a bloke twice," she continued, "especially for the second date." Her easy grin was infectious. "So, it's nice you've asked."

When she didn't say anything more, Harry rolled his eyes, "And?"

"Oh, I thought it's obvious." Amabel looked at him strangely, " Of course we should meet again."

He knew that he looked silly with a goofy grin on his face. They went back to their butterbeers.

"Oh, damn." She started after a few minutes of small talk. "Harry, I'm sorry, I have to run. Totally forgot I have to meet someone..., like a ten minutes ago." She bit her lip hesitantly. "Listen, send me a note to the Hog's Head, addressed to Amabel, ok?"

Harry arched an eyebrow, "Hog's Head?" Thousand thoughts sprinting inside his mind. He stood up with her.

"Yeah." She said bitting her lip again, suddenly nervously, "I'm really glad we met." She leaned towards him. "It's just..., I'm really glad."

"Me too." Harry said in a quiet voice.

She kissed him on a cheek, lingering slightly. Simple kiss - and it somehow send waves of pleasure through his whole left side, all the way down to his toes.

She smiled briefly at him again, "Owl me?"

Harry could only nodded.

She smiled again. "Bye."

"Bye."

Amabel vanished with a small pop. Part of Harry registered another big difference between the worlds, _there were no apparation wards in the Leaky Cauldron_. But that part was very small and distant.

Harry sat in his chair again, looking at the spot she had just vacated. _I had fun._

_What a strange day. Fawkes is in this world, there is a chance that he would have his old wand – at least a wand exactly like his. There is no Voldemort here, just Tom Riddle, some terrorist who spent half of his life in prison. No prophecy to dictate his life. A family that took him in. A whole new life with plenty of possibilities and non hindrances._

Harry froze with a sudden realization – _I would have to find a job! Maybe I could teach_, his excitement seemed to spread out of control, _or fly!_

"And it's just four o'clock." He said happily.

xxxxxxxxxx

The street looked just as crowded as it was a couple of hours earlier.

After he had left the pub, Harry decided to go and find Hermione's apartment. He remembered that it was above a second-hand bookstore. But where exactly, he wasn't sure. He was pretty convinced it was on his right, but then again, He couldn't bet on the fact that Sirius and he actually came from the direction of Leaky Cauldron.

Casually fingering his new wand, Harry started down the Alley again, this time looking more closely at the buildings, rather than people.

After fifteen minutes of casual stroll he had found a place that looked promising. It was a two stories building with a bookstore downstairs and an outdoor staircase on the side of the building.

He climbed the stairs and entered a small hall that led to another staircase. Down the hall he saw the door that he had vaguely remembered.

Harry knocked on the door and waited. He heard some noise and after a while it clicked open.

However, It wasn't Hermione that opened the door.

"Can I help you?" Ask young man in elegant robes and what looked like a permanent frown on his face.

Harry hesitated for a moment wondering if, after all, he had missed her flat. The man was waiting for an answer.

"Hi, I'm Harry. I was..." But he didn't have a chance to finish.

"I don't want to buy any rubbish you're trying to sell. I'm rather busy, good day." And the door closed in Harry's face.

Harry scowled rising his hand to knock again but paused listening quietly for any signs of voices inside. Unfortunately he heard nothing apart from some shuffling inside the apartment. He decided that the man was definitely alone. Standing there with his fist half raised he had reasoned that there was a chance he didn't actually find Hermione's home.

With that conclusion Harry left the guy alone.

After his lunch-date, he was in a too good of a mood to be bothered by some random prick. He would see Hermione at the picnic party they were preparing for him anyway and maybe he will pick some random history book from the bookshop downstairs.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Thanks for your help Hermione." Lily smiled at the young witch. They were in the attic looking for some more plates and cups. The little party was turning to become some event.

"It was my pleasure Mrs., um, Lily." Hermione said, "It is I who should be thankful. I mean, I am thankful."

Lily looked up from one of the boxes with her eyebrow raised, the girl went to elaborate.

"Well," she hesitated, "I don't have a lot of friends. I was, I am," she corrected, "rather shy. Sometimes, I would say something that to others sounds offending and well..."

"Hermione, you know I always liked you. And I think of you as a friend." She handed the younger witch the top of another box to put on the side.

"Thank you." Hermione blushed at the complement, "I know, and I like you and Mr. Potter as well. And Remus is a great boss. And, well, it is hard not to like Sirius." They shared a smile. "But I mean friends my own age. I suppose I have Skylar, but lately I was wondering if I'm doing the right thing with him." She lapsed into silence, lost in her thoughts.

"But anyway, I meant that with Harry it's so..., I don't know." She sighed and knelt to look through another box that Lily showed her. "He acts so relax around me and like he knows me and ... and trusts me. I know that from his perspective he does. I mean, I know that I can't be the same person like that other me, but he treats me so... I've never felt like that. I know that he's practically just showed up, but I feel like I've just got my old friend back." She stopped her rambling and looked at the older witch to see her with a sad and wistful expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, I did it again, didn't I? I didn't mean to upset you." Hermione said quietly.

"No honey, You didn't upset me." Lily smiled sadly, sitting on a dusted floor of the attic. "I think, that I envy you. He didn't know Rose, James and me in his world." She smiled at Hermione, "I know what you mean, though, he did seem really relaxed around you." She squeezed Hermione's hand. "I'm happy that he sees what a great person you are, Hermione."

They searched in silence for a few minutes.

"How many people are going to be here?" Hermione asked when the silence stretched for some time.

"More than I would care for. Rose wanted to invite some people from your year and few teachers." She smiled again, this time with real humor. "Than James and Sirius started adding plus one to everyone and the families of invited and families of those with the invited." She shook her head. "I lost track when Sirius had sent an owl to a friend of his from Romanian Auror's Corp and than James had send another to remind this guy to bring some of his friends. And the worst of it is that I don't know if they were kidding or not." She looked resignedly at Hermione but smiled with an affection, thinking of her boys.

"How do you manage with them?" Hermione asked when they started levitating their findings downstairs.

"I'm afraid that it's pretty much a package deal." Lily laughed.

They entered the kitchen to find Remus and Rose levitating tables and chairs outside.

Lily shoot her daughter a glare. "And what do you think you are doing with a wand, young lady. You know you're not supposed to use magic...," she looked around not seeing James anywhere, "and where is your Auror father?"

"He's with Sirius making some lights for the Quidditch pitch. He said that we probably wont play until its dark, so they went to enchant the pitch."

Lily sighed, "Does any of you know who will show up?"

Remus smiled at her, "It probably be more than you originally expected."

"Did Harry said when he's going to be back?"

"Not really, he only said that he will have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron." Rose said.

"And when are people supposed to start coming?"Lily asked again, levitating now clean dishes outside.

"Molly flooed and said that she will be around three to help with food." Remus said, "And that The Weasleys should start appearing after five. Also Alice is on her way, she said she will remind Neville of this and come straight her."

Lily nodded handing Hermione some cutlery to put on the tables outside.

"Oh and Alastor said that he will be in a bit, to check on the wards." Remus smirked leaning against windowsill. "He said that James and Sirius probably mucked your wards." Lily snored knowing about Moody's overzealous attitude.

Lily wasn't entirely sure what to think about this party. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too much for Harry. She wondered briefly how many of the people that will show up had died in his world, but she banished that thought concentrating on preparing everything for the party.

xxxxxxxxxx

AN:

To all it may concern – I will finish this story, really. I don't really have time to write, but I will try to post next chapter soon.

Well, I just can't thank you enough for your Reviews. I mean it. It's just, wow! Thank you all.

I think I don't need to remind you to leave another Review, you know, the button 'go', and few words.

Oh and MeghanReviews - thanks for Occl/Legili reminder – I missed that one.

Thanks again.


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